Leadership

Stop Struggling and Hire the Right Employees

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People are unpredictable and so are the employees we hire! Most business owners and executives would readily agree! It can be hard to accurately predict what people will or won’t do. The biggest challenge is, hiring the right employees when they look the part, say the right things and tell you they have beaucoup experience. Yet, within a very short period of time on the job, the person who is showing up on the job isn’t the person who you interviewed. The problem isn’t that the person has changed, the problem is your hiring process didn’t work. Why?

Infuse Predictability into Your Hiring System

Use qualified assessments for hiring and promotion. Too often, we rely on non-qualified assessments or no assessments at all. These non-qualified assessments, commonly referred to as social indicators, offer face validity — this means they show the results of how job candidates want to be seen and how the interviewer wants to see them. This is rarely a reflection of how the candidate will actually think and behave, or their true work interest on the job. Most of these same tools don’t provide predictive validity or reliability, which are both required by the Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines for pre-employment assessments. For better results, you need better, objective information by using predictable assessment tools! They help you reduce costs, save time, improve retention and sleep better at night!

Stop Relying Solely on Your Intuition

Whenever you are hiring or promoting, you typically rely on your interviewing skills or having worked with the person. This is where the unpredictability of people can cost you a lot of money, time and stress.

While the costs of hiring mistakes are well documented, often overlooked is the biggest unrealized expense: taking a good employee and promoting or moving them into a job function that doesn’t fit. They take the position for many reasons … many take the opportunity for a pay increase, more flexibility (if working remotely), increased credibility with co-workers, or for a variety of other personal and professional motives. The challenge is, when they don’t work out, they usually leave, often taking your good customers with them. What could you have done differently?

Set Up Predictable Systems

There are over 3,000 assessment tools on the market today. Very few are in compliance with the DOL for hiring and promoting purposes. It’s why we lack predictability when hiring, training and coaching employees to be great in their current and future roles within the company. It pays to take the time to select the right assessment so you hire and promote the right employees. Doing so helps you retain and attract great customers, while increasing profitability and performance!

Here is a partial list of guidelines taken from Hire Amazing Employees (www.BizSavvyHire.com) to help you select the right assessment tool for hiring and promoting purposes:

  • Technical Manual: get the manual — do not rely solely on a letter from a law firm.
  • Reliability and Validity: does it meet the minimum requirements with the Department of Labor guidelines for employment selection purposes?
  • Predictive Validity: what is the window for predicting future behaviors: hours, weeks, or years?
  • Measures Thinking Style, Core Behaviors and Occupational Interests: interestingly, thinking style is found to be a very important measure.
  • Types of Reports Available and Cost for Each One: selection, coaching, leadership, sales, supervisory, team, career fit, succession planning, and workforce planning.
  • Distortion Factor: is the person being forthright in answering the questions?

While it can be hard to accurately predict what people will or won’t do, it’s important to infuse your hiring and selection practices with predictability. The best way to do this is to use qualified assessment tools as part of your selection process.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

For a complete list of how to improve your hiring practices, contact me or get a copy of Hire Amazing Employees @ www.BizSavvyHire.com

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: www.SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at www.SeibCo.com/contact.

Get Better Results from Better Decisions

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A business owner wanted to grow his business. He loved inventing grandiose ideas, but failed to create sustainable infrastructures to support them. For example, he wanted to hire great customer service people and staff up his technical support team. The problem was, he was unable to setup and unwilling to follow a sustainable (and legal) selection system to find people and vet them. Instead, he would entice people from larger employers to come and work for his much smaller company, falsely believing if the person worked for that big company they would naturally succeed in his growing business. Even though he was cautioned about job fit and culture fit when hiring those people, he wouldn’t listen. He even used non-qualified assessments because they were free and supported his decisions! Six months later the people left and started their own company, taking several important clients with them.

4 Ways to Acquire Better Information to Make Better Decisions

Whether you are hiring or making other business decisions, it’s important you take the time to use the right tools, listen to others and build decisions that will positively impact your business today, and tomorrow! The easy fixes do not usually produce the best sustainable results.

Stop Overthinking. There is an old adage, talking to yourself is talking to a fool. While no one wants to think of him- or herself as a fool, the challenge is, relying on your own thoughts does not provide new and valid information. And, latching onto a new idea, without talking through the pros and cons of how it would or could work in your organization, will not produce the best results either.

Take time to learn the art of brainstorming … it will save time, money and sleepless nights! Instead of pondering an issue or problem to death in your head, brainstorm possible solutions with your team, and, at this point, don’t get stopped by any of the details. Later in the decision-making process, include those off-the-wall ideas that may have more merit when looked at closer.

Slow Down the Decision Process. We live in a world where people love to make decisions in a nano-second. Unfortunately, relying on the tiniest fragments of information is not a valid or sustainable process when making decisions. Many times people that make decisions too quickly, also change their minds just as quickly, creating chaos within their business.

Take time to talk through the pros and cons of your brainstorming session(s). Pick at least five reasons something will work before disregarding it. Investigate the legalities, financial, people, current policies and procedures, and operational impacts before making any final decisions. Yes, it will take more time upfront, but usually saves beaucoup bucks. You will have more time for fun and enjoy restful nights!

Listen to Others with Differing Opinions Before Making Final Decisions. Listening to information you may not wish to hear, or feeling it requires too much effort to learn the truth, only limits your results. Whenever poor decisions are made, the underlying issue(s) never go away!

Putting frosting on mud pie and calling it a cake doesn’t change it from a mud pie!

For example, people love using non-qualified assessment tools to hire people. These tools have great face validity but do not comply with the Department of Labor regs for pre-employment use. This means they show the results of how job candidates want to be seen and how the interviewer wants to see them. This is rarely a reflection of how the candidate will really behave, think or do their work, causing a lot of mischief once they are on the payroll.

Listen as if your business’s success depends upon your doing so … because it does!

Communicate the Outcome so that Everyone Wins. Once you’ve made the final decision, it’s important to communicate the outcome, but beware of spinning it. This will only cause the underlying issue(s) to perpetuate within your company culture — slowly but surely. Next time the same or similar issue will cost more time, more money and maybe your job or company!

You want your employees, customers, vendors and business associates to authentically feel the decisions you make are fair and you’ve followed your own company values, policies and procedures, and other important data. Doing so will build good, sustainable results so that everyone wins.

©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.

Managing Remote Candidates with Less Skepticism

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Many companies today are expanding their applicant pool by hiring candidates to work remotely. It’s a great way to hire hard-to-find employees with specific technical skills that do not wish to move. It’s also a great way to keep current employees that are moving. The challenge is, many times work-from-home employees need better interaction skills and work discipline to ensure a high level of work product and seamless interactions. Bosses tend to be skeptical about trusting the independent employee to get the work done and stay in communication with team members in the office.

Here are 6 keys to Lessen the Skepticism

Conduct Normal Due Diligence. When hiring a new remote person, conduct full due diligence (e.g., background checks, references and employment verification). For both the new hire and the moving employee, don’t forget to talk with current and previous bosses, co-workers, customers and vendors to ensure satisfactory interactions and work quality. For new hires, use a qualified core value assessment to ascertain someone’s level of integrity and reliability to ensure things will get done in a timely manner.

Use a Job Fit Assessment. Use a qualified assessment to clarify if the person fits the primary job duties and is capable of working alone remotely. The biggest expense that is often unrealized when taking a high-producing employee and moving them, is that the structure that supported their success will dramatically change! For example, does the person have the tech skills required to be productive?  Can the sales person close a sale by themselves? Are they willing and capable to build a new network in their new community? These are only some of the critical issues to address upfront!

Ability to Work Independently. Company expectations that the employee show up and get the work done is easier to manage in an office setting. The built-in support system to readily handle customer inquiries and concerns is easier when the person is in the cubicle next door. Often overlooked, family expectations for pet, child and elder care often falls on the stay-at-home person. Talk to them upfront about the work expectations: specific work hours, interactions with others without distractions, and the ability to accomplish the work in a timely manner.

Designated Space and Confidentiality. Have them setup a separate workspace from the main living areas of their home. The computer and equipment should be for work use only and is supplied by the company! And more importantly, remember to talk about confidentiality. Confidentiality can be easily compromised when items are left out in the open, computers are not Wi-Fi protected, and computer screens can be easily seen by others.

Keep Them in the Loop. The reality is, coworkers may resent someone working from home and forget to keep them up-to-speed. Because they are not where the action is occurring, politically they will miss out on the subtle changes and expectations. As their boss, stay in direct communication and require attendance at team meetings (via video call or their physical presence). Also, weekly one-on-one conference calls can help ensure work flow, sharing of important communication and awareness of additional training that may be required.

On-site meetings. Require attendance at on-site quarterly or bi-annual meetings. This will encourage coworkers to meet one another and develop better working relationships. It’s a great opportunity for additional team training that can be harder to achieve relying solely on e-learning.

Managing people remotely as a boss requires sharpening your listening skills and developing an ability to manage results differently. Attracting and keeping top level talent makes it well worth your time!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and executive coach for over 23 years; and along the way, guided the creation of three millionaires. 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.

Are You Ready to be a Manager?

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Many millennials believe they are ready to take the next step up in their career and become a manager. The key question is, are you ready? To be successful, it requires the effort of both you and your boss to ensure readiness and clarity of expectations.

Preparation for the Job

Developing yourself starts before you are given the job title. Your success as a manager will rely more on people and project management skills rather than technical expertise. Start now to develop these talents by taking courses and workshops. If you really want to excel, hire yourself a coach. Additionally, get involved in industry and trade associations since they offer another great way to develop these abilities.

First 90 Days on the Job

When you become a manager, it’s important you have a straight conversation with your boss about expectations and outcomes. More importantly, listen more than talk! You may believe you understand what will be required in your new role; however, being a manager will open up many new and unfamiliar challenges. Schedule weekly conversations with your boss, or more, to ensure you’re on track.

Here are some guidelines to help you:

Clarify. Get on the same page with your boss by reviewing the expectations, job description, and top three goals. This is a critical first step. Also, clarify what can realistically be accomplished in the first 90 days—and remember, your success will depend on your ability to effectively delegate and manage the work of others.

Adjust Perspective. This is the biggest challenge. While you may believe you understand the new role and unwritten expectations, that’s rarely the case. Advancing from employee to manager is like moving from the ground floor to the top floor of a three-story apartment building. The street level provides a limited view (employee). The second floor offers a broader view (manager). And the third floor provides an even wider view (executive). Adjust your mindset by being open to expanding your thoughts and perceptions of how things should be.

Listen and Learn! Find an internal mentor to help teach you what is expected as you move up the company ladder. Company politics are part of any business culture. Hire a coach that can confidentially answer your questions and strategically help you move forward with confidence and competence.

Slow Down Any Changes. Use the first 90 days to learn the terrain. Recommending changes too quickly can create unnecessary upsets. Again, listen and learn — this time from employees, peers and customers. Get their input and build on their ideas before making any modifications. One small change can impact an entire system.

Promote Communication. It’s important for you to meet with all team members, peers and upper management — one-on-one—regardless of previous relationships—to ask questions about departments, goals, expectations and any other concerns.

Second 90 Days on the Job

Remember, You’re Still Learning! Adopting this mindset for the rest of your career will help you tremendously. The challenge for many at this point is they think they have it all handled. Remember, humility will build needed relationships, while a little ego will help you get things done. Not the other way around!

Build on Relationships. Attend professional trade shows and other events to help you stay abreast of industry changes, while expanding your circle of contacts. Their expertise can come in handy when you have a challenge or need to address an issue. Internally, stay in contact with peers, talking about concerns and creating new opportunities. Continuing your weekly meetings with your mentor and boss will keep you on target as you grow into your new role.

Execute Plans and Achieve Intended Results. The goal for you is to elicit the best from others by effectively and productively working with and through them. In order for you to move upward, you need to show you can develop yourself and others, while delivering intended results.

People want to work for true leaders, and being a great manager is the perfect place to start.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and executive coach for over 23 years; and along the way, guided the creation of three millionaires. 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.

Do You Want to be Successful? Then, Talk Straight!

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Do You Want to be Successful? Then, Talk Straight!

Eliciting the best from others requires straight talk. As a leader, boss and manager, it also requires engaging in real conversations by using persuasive listening skills*. The goals are to have others,

feel great after talking with us,

feel inspired, and

have confidence in our leadership.

Why are we afraid of straight talk?

Human beings have been socialized to fear conflict, including other people’s opinions, thoughts and feelings — especially if they don’t agree with us.

As a result, we often and unconsciously:

Hide behind company jargon when attempting to answer questions we don’t really know the answer to for fear of looking bad or incompetent.

 Go silent when asked direct questions because we were not listening, or do not trust our responses.

Try to out-talk someone or get upset with them hoping they will eventually give up and go away.

Why? These ineffective behaviors have worked for us in the past. And, we believe they will keep working.

It’s not easy to talk straight. However, as a leader, it’s important we make a positive difference with our teams by learning to communicate effectively!

How Do You Talk Straight?

Set aside your ego. You will never learn anything if you talk more than listen! Ask the right questions and come from humility, coupled with a sincere interest in learning. This is more important than telling people what you know. Be willing to say, “I don’t know the answer to that question.” Or, ask more questions to uncover what they really mean, without sounding like an interrogator! The key is to take the time to uncover you have a team of geniuses and valuable contributors!

Straight talk requires using different communication vehicles to convey your message. To communicate effectively, speak and write simplistically. Remember, many employees only have a 6th grade reading level. To complicate it further, many don’t fully comprehend what they read. Often, people learn better by listening, seeing pictures, and through hands-on experience. Take the time to talk your team through changes in policies or procedures. Provide opportunities for Q&A, using graphics and pictures. Utilize experiential learning opportunities. Remember, successfully engaging your employees requires consistent and repetitive messages from you … aka straight talk.

Truly listen. It’s important we say what we mean and mean what we say! This can only happen when we listen to others and hear them first. Then, we can make sure our messaging is on point!  A couple of very bad listening habits include,

Falsely believing if we can repeat back what someone has said, we listened!

Or worse, believing in the myth we are mind readers and know what someone is going to say before they say it.

Stop doing these things! Start truly listening. You’ll be amazed by what you learn!

Remember, your team’s success depends upon you talking straight.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

*To find out more about persuasive listening skills: http://ow.ly/XeIn301ujv3

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.

Do You Need Help from Others?

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Of course you do. Whether you believe it or not!

Executives and entrepreneurs often climb up the corporate ladder, or develop a small business based on their strong core behaviors of self-reliance and resourcefulness. Many times they will surpass their bosses, co-workers and peers when taking initiatives and achieving results! They believe self-reliance is the key to leadership and success – aka, “I did it myself.” However, these same behavioral traits can limit success when you fail to build sustainable systems and develop great teams.

In order for self-reliant business leaders to be successful long-term, they must learn to develop the right strategy and mindset to build and use a strong team.

Self-Reliance Doesn’t Mean You Need to Do It by Yourself!

Listen and Learn. Listening to and learning from others is key. Being able to take information and make valid decisions requires a willingness to take risks outside of your comfort zone. Remember, you will make mistakes. There is not a leader who hasn’t made more than one! Garnering wisdom (e.g., learning from failures and successes) from your team’s experiences, not just your own, you can utilize your enterprising nature and energize your team to go past obstacles.

Work With and Through Others. Develop the skills required to work well with others: bosses, boards, investors, employees and/or strategic business partners. Be sure the expectations are clearly outlined and everyone is on the same page. Don’t assume that others will see or do it your way, regardless of what they say. Be open to allowing others’ ideas and input when developing workable plans that everyone can align on. Then, consistently check in on the progress to ensure everything is on track. Coach your team through any excuses by being open to developing new strategies and mindsets focused on achieving the required outcomes.

Don’t Let Boredom Sabotage You. Being a helicopter leader will not make you a good leader; and, will allow boredom to take over.  Get real about what is required for a project to succeed by rolling up your sleeves. Encourage others to lead parts of the project and coach them to work well with other team members. When there is conflict, be fearless in facilitating win-win-win outcomes. Learning to work through any obstacles to ensure the intended goals are completed on time and within budget, will minimize tediousness that every project or process will naturally entail.

Self-reliant leaders ask for and accept help from others. This behavioral trait is a gift when utilized to complete projects, support team members and ensure win-win-win outcomes.  For even faster results, hire a business advisor to pull you out of the limiting mindset, “I can do it myself.”

©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 .

Your Bad Boss Style Can Get You Fired!

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Many times bosses, leaders, or upwardly mobile professionals do not realize they have bad management styles and attitudes. They are unaware that these attributes get in the way of their business results. While most of their employees and co-workers hope their bad bosses will leave or be fired, there is an alternative – they can transform into a good one!

Good bosses are not born that way! They take the time and energy, and learn from the hard lessons along the way, to develop very good skills in managing people, projects, and financial responsibilities. Good bosses know that most employees quit due to bad bosses, not money. As a result, they do their best to be laser-like coaches, fearless project managers, and keep their employees happy.

Discover Your Bad Boss Traits

The following quiz will help you become aware of the “bad boss traits” you may have. Becoming conscious to how you are perceived is critical to your current and upward success.  Remember, no one expects you to be perfect. However, if you have more than a few low scores, you should consider alternative career paths.

Honestly answer the following questions using a Scale of 1 to 4:

1 = All the time

2 = More often than not

3 = Every so often

4 = Rarely

Do you:

  1. Want to be liked and are less concerned about being respected?
  2. Hold grudges?
  3. Discredit people based on their gender, race, religion, age, or weight?
  4. Ignore certain people’s on-point solutions while valuing less-appropriate solutions                                   voiced by those you like?
  5. Force your own ideas as solutions to problems?
  6. Blame others for poor results?
  7. Take credit for good results, even though you had little to do with them?
  8. Only do what you want to do and not what needs to be done?
  9. Have anger issues that you have not managed or resolved?
  10. Fail to follow-through and follow-up with employees, clients, vendors, and others?
  11. Put off what needs to be done until it’s an emergency?
  12. View golf games (and other outside activities) as more important than your business responsibilities?
  13. Value outside perceptions of your professionalism as more important than your employees’ perceptions?
  14. Justify spending money on your self-interests while overlooking the needs of the office or business?
  15. Micromanage self-reliant people?
  16. Fail to provide enough direction for those employees needing structure and guidance?
  17. Fail to roll up your sleeves and get involved in a project or crisis?
  18. Nitpick projects with untargeted or poor business questions?
  19. Lack commitment to the business or job, wishing you were doing something else?
  20. Only pursue ideas that hold interest to you at the expense of the company?
  21. Become righteous about your selection and promotion practices, discriminating based on appearance, education, current work or financial status, or gossip from others?
  22. Discriminate against employees who have real or perceived health issues, including their family members who do?
  23. Mismanage fiscal, human, and system resources?
  24. Complain about others taking earned vacations while you take at least twice as much time off?
  25. Find it more important to be part of the group instead of being their leader?

Add up your scores:

Score of Less than 35:  You may wish to consider a different occupation with no management responsibilities. The sooner, the better.

Score of 35 to 54: You may wish to consider a different occupation with no people management responsibilities or find a management position as an independent contributor. Don’t wait until you are fired or sidelined.

Score of 55 to 79:  With ongoing executive coaching, you may be able to improve your effectiveness. It depends upon your true interest and willingness to do so. Take a qualified job-fit assessment and a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment.  These will be beneficial to managing your career direction and fine-tuning your management skills.

Score of 80 to 100: Congrats! You’re a great boss. The bigger question: Would your employees truly agree? Take a qualified job-fit assessment and a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment. These will be beneficial and help you continue to be a great boss.

Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact  to get started.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly has been working with leaders as 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.

Work Smart and Have Fun — Yes, You Can Do It!

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Too often, business leaders fall into the endless trap of believing they need to “work harder” in order to get the results they want, have people do what they want to have done, or to simply look good to their co-workers and bosses. This never ending “hamster on the proverbial wheel” is very tiring and prevents them from making positive differences, having fun and enjoying financial freedom.

Working smarter requires us to become conscious of what we are doing and how we are doing it! Being present, believing in our company, work and people, and doing the job in a manner that makes a positive difference, are all important to working smarter.

Create a Can Do Attitude

Now is the Perfect Time! What are your excuses for not pursuing your goals and getting those projects done now? Write down your reasons why. Now, write down your excuses for those reasons why. Keep writing the “why’s for those reasons why” until you’ve gotten to the real fear! When you become consciously aware of exactly what is stopping you, you can make true changes. This process awakens natural and creative ways to simplify and streamline your job duties — freeing you up to pursue other goals.

Create Inspiring Goals. Many of us set goals that are simply tasks to be done. When we’re not inspired, they don’t get accomplished. Our brains love urgency. After you’ve written your goal and declared a completion date, cut it in half! And, add a zero! For example, I want to invoice $10,000 by July 1 (today is May 31). New goal: I intend to invoice $100,000 by June 15th! This will require you and your team to get into immediate action, and for you to stay engaged in the process.

Become an Expert! Today, many companies are relying upon their systems to determine what they can and cannot do! Business leaders don’t take the time to answer “why” the system is setup the way it is. Experts excel when they question why, by learning how a system is setup and how it impacts their business. This knowledge makes them an expert. For example, property management companies rely upon their systems to determine if potential tenants are credit worthy. The problem is, most property managers cannot answer the why some are accepted and some are not. This causes needless upset and negative social media postings, which can be prevented when you become an expert and know how to ensure your systems provide win-win-win outcomes.

Feel Good about your Accomplishments! Learn to brag in a business savvy manner — it gives voice to your achievements and focuses you on your strengths.  It inspires others to do the same! Take a couple of minutes at the end of each day to write down your achievements for the day and setup tomorrow’s “must do’s.” Now, go and have fun – you deserve it! (http://TimetoBrag.com)

When you work smarter to achieve your goals with a can-do attitude, your career will be more rewarding and a lot more fun.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2016

During the past 23 years, Jeannette Seibly has used her uncanny ability to help thousands identify roadblocks and refocus to quickly to produce unprecedented results – gifting them with abilities to work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact for a free confidential conversation.

Transforming your Culture for True Growth

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It’s a mystery to many leaders how company cultures are created. The truth is, they begin during the inception of the company. As employees, leaders, customers and vendors come and go, the culture is unconsciously fine-tuned by everyone.

Most leaders believe their culture is a mystery and they have no responsibility for it. What they fail to understand, they create the culture, deliberately or by default, based on their decisions and mindsets. For example, if a leader is unwilling to rock the boat to resolve any issue, this mindset naturally becomes ingrained in the culture and others will follow suit in order to keep their jobs.

Transforming your culture for true growth requires a strategically crafted vision to support and sustain the company’s new direction. And, a true leader can see the big picture, handle the small details, and engage others along the way.

Now, for the million-dollar questions, How willing are you to lead this transformational process? Or, are you simply going to allow whatever happens to happen?

Leading Transform for True Growth

Build on What Works. It requires a lot of conscious thought, strategic conversations, persistence and belief for transformation to successfully occur. Remember, it’s a process, not an event. Build on what is working by consistently building on its strengths. Perhaps more important, hire a trusted business advisor to keep you focused and vigilant when handling the status quo.  (According to a recent study,* only about 8% of executives surveyed are capable of guiding their organizations through transformation.)

Develop Strategic Insight. Set aside the time-consuming and costly common approach of repeating of the same old processes, believing they are new and different. (Note from author, after working with 100’s of companies, this is more common than you realize.) Real transformation requires questioning the elephants in the room that are ingrained in the fabric of the culture. This part can be very difficult since it requires open dialogue and real leadership – moving people out of their comfort zones. Bring in an objective and strong facilitator to lead the conversations. Stay on point and don’t delve into the blame game.

Engage Your People. For true growth, your employees must consciously and whole-heartedly support change. This can be scary for them when they don’t know what to expect. Engage at every level within your company. Remember to keep talking with your customers, vendors and communities too.

Hire the Right Team. The biggest challenge for companies is developing a team that supports the new vision. Often the old guard will not support “new” ideas. The added challenge is new employees will usually succumb to the old culture in order to be liked, accepted, and keep their jobs.  Use qualified assessments not only for hiring new employees, but to also train, coach and manage current employees. This will support the cultural changes you need to make for sustainable growth.

Make the Difficult Decisions. Many leaders base their decisions on the old mindset, forgetting the newly develop strategies. These require having conversations and looking in the new direction. Work with your trusted business advisor to talk you through the pros and cons. With focus and consistency, the culture will naturally adjust over time.

As a leader, you are responsible for your company’s culture (whether you want to or not), so create one that supports true growth.

* Study conducted by David Rooke of Harthill Consulting and William Torbert of Boston University, 2016.

©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. Contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact .

Conflict is a Gift for Success

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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 .