Manager | SeibCo, LLC

Why Do I Make the Same Costly Mistakes?

July 9, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

Avoid Costly Mistakes “Mistakes will continue to happen if you don’t learn from them.” Jeannette Seibly

As a coach, I’m asked great questions.

Recently, one of the best was, “Why do people continue to make the same mistakes?”

There is no one right answer to this question.

Here’s a story of someone that didn’t learn from her costly mistakes.

Shelby spent $12,000 to publish her first book. The process was not easy, despite her book coach, Bert, telling her it wouldn’t be hard. The first mistake was when Bert assigned Nolan to do the layout of Shelby’s book before the manuscript was professionally edited. Costs mounted due to lots of changes, frustrating everyone involved. Shelby’s second mistake was expecting the sales of her book to occur without any marketing. Bert had failed to outline a marketing plan with her. A year later, when she published the second book, Shelby repeated the same mistakes leaving her frustrated and broke.

Understand Why Mistakes Repeat

Ego trumps objectivity. We want easy and immediate answers, believing if we’ve been burnt once we way too smart to be burnt again!

Intuition isn’t always right. Mistakes repeat when you confuse intuition with emotional feelings about someone or something.

For example, you’re driving down I25 in Colorado from Denver to Castle Rock and are about to pass the Castle Pines exit. Suddenly, a little voice says, “Exit Here!” Your ego chimes in saying, “I’m in a hurry and can’t be late by taking the scenic route.” Several miles later you find yourself stuck in traffic due to a major accident that closed the highway. That’s intuition. There often is no immediate logic when intuition speaks.

Rely on others’ experiences. Others’ experiences are not yours! Someone else’s career path or life choices worked for them, but, won’t necessarily work for you.

Duped by charlatans. Yes, they exist! If you believe you cannot be duped, check social media posts and feeds! It’s very common.

8 Tips to Avoid Repeating the Same Mistakes

Clarify, “What’s the end result I need or desire?” This is a critical and often overlooked step. Create three non-negotiables to avoid mistakes. For example, what are three must-haves to accept this job offer (e.g., health insurance, pay, job title, job responsibilities, etc.)?
Self-Talk. Negative talk about yourself will diminish inner confidence and increase the likelihood of mistakes re-occurring. Learn self-promotion to gain true confidence from your past accomplishments. This creates a positive foundation to avoid repeating mistakes.
Awareness. In other words, we make a difference. Become emotionally and socially present when interacting with others and watch the difference you will make.
Trust Yourself. Seek objective information and stop relying on your biased mental chatter. Talk with no more than one or two confidants. Asking for more than three opinions will normally leave you confused and stuck.
Work with Your Executive Coach. Confidentially talk out complex issues or confusing situations with your coach. This support will objectively uncover your blind spot(s). Then, take immediate actions without over-analyzing them! (If you are over-analyzing, it’s just your ego in overdrive.)
Read Biographies. Many successful people (yes, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Michael Jordan – to mention a few well-known and successful people) have failed and made mistakes. You’re not alone! Learn from them.
Become Friends with Your Calculator. Many people profess to hate math…yet, numbers can help you make better decisions. Take a refresher financial and/or math class. To avoid mistakes, work with a financial business consultant to double check your numbers and logic.
Create New Habits. Ask questions and deep dive to collect objective data about products or services. Don’t forget to have a real attorney read any contracts before you sign them!

A couple of questions to get you started:

-How are your services/products different?

-How much money is expected up front? When is the balance due? (Hint: pay by credit card for faster refunds.)

-What have been your successes?

-What is your biggest mistake? Why? What did you learn?

By using the 8 tips above, you will learn to avoid repeating the same costly mistakes over and over again.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Being a great boss requires working through complex issues or confusing situations to avoid costly mistakes. Jeannette Seibly has been an award-winning champion for people for the past 26 years. Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results.

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How to Rock the Boat for Better Results

April 14, 2025July 2, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

Making a commitment to stand up and speak up can rock the boat with any team. It requires courage and an ability to take have the right, sometimes, tough conversations to produce better results.

The challenge is not everyone will agree with you; and, not everyone will support you, even if you are correct.

So, it begs the question, “Why bother?”

Ask yourself, “if I’m not willing to rock the boat, who will?”

The underlying problem is fear and it creates the ostrich approach.

Some excuses are:

“I’m uncomfortable saying anything.”
“No one will like me or listen to me if I say anything.”
“If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother you.”

Taking the ostrich approach ignores obvious matters and pretends they don’t exist. But, when problems do exist, avoidance doesn’t support the intended results.

Successful teams know that being clear of the costs of poor outcomes and making the commitment to rock the boat will produce better results.

It Takes Courage

Ignoring an issue until it can no longer be avoided is not a good practice. Provide training on how to conduct effective meetings (group and virtual). Use an executive coach to get the team unstuck and guide the creation of viable solutions. Encourage each and every team member to stand up and speak up. These will build communication, trust, accountability, and amazing results.

Rock the Boat Responsibly

Voice your concerns in a positive tone. Remember, some team members will be unwilling to listen and consider there is a problem. Be prepared to review the objective facts before addressing less-factual concerns. Be respectful when addressing differing POVs.
Brainstorm solutions with the team. Focus on creating win-win-win outcomes by brainstorming solutions with the team, not relying on one person for the answers. Don’t jump on selecting the first idea that resonates with the team. Explore ideas by taking the time to ask the right questions and deep dive into who, what, when, where, why, before addressing how. Use persuasive listening techniques to build alignment before revising the plan or project.
Implement changes immediately. After alignment has occurred, it’s time to implement the change immediately. Remember, change can be difficult for some people and waiting will have people get cold feet. Make sure the person responsible for implementing the change has the interest and ability to do so. If there is a problem, immediately set up a meeting to talk with them. Before offering solutions, address: What has been done? What do they view as the next step? What, if anything, has stopped them from taking the new action?

©Jeannette Seibly, 2017-2019

Being proactive as a boss is one of the most difficult challenges you will face. It’s difficult to know when to stand up and speak up. Jeannette Seibly has been an award-winning champion for people for the past 26 years. She has guided bosses and teams to excel. Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results.

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How to Be a Proactive Boss and Stop Fire-Fighting

June 25, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

boss.fire fighting.proactive Everywhere, exhausted bosses hate having to put out “fires.” The sad truth is, many of these “hot issues” are preventable by being proactive.

I remember reminiscing with a former coaching client last year. We laughed at the many stories we had addressed when he was the director of a technology company.

One of the most powerful stories was, he never seemed to worry about anything. His normal response, “I understand that maybe I should be worried … and I am concerned … but, I don’t see how running around will change anything.”

His new version: “If there is a fire in the building, I need to get involved instead of sitting and roasting marshmallows.”

He was right. Over-reacting is just as bad as not-reacting. It’s why our coaching calls focused on becoming a proactive boss that prevented “fires” from occurring.

Get Into Action Now

Stop Waiting for “The Perfect Time.” It’s a myth! Waiting until the situation or issue is “really hot” makes it more difficult to “put out the fire.” Attempting to drench it with a fire hose only has team members drown in chaos. In the chaos, the real core issue is camouflaged by smoke and mirrors. Listen up! Be open to hearing what you don’t want to hear. It’s the only way to be proactive and put the fire out now.

Two co-team facilitators sniped at each other during team meetings. Many team members stopped attending and blamed each other for the conflicts. When the boss heard about it, she simply stated, “People will be people.” It wasn’t until her top employee left that she decided she better listen! He blamed her for his need to leave. Perplexed, the boss asked why he felt that way. He replied, “All you had to do was care enough to be proactive, instead of waiting for the inevitable fires.”

Uncover “Why” There Are Upsets and Frustrations. Have you been hearing gossip and sparks of dissension? If there are complaints, it’s past time to get involved! First, address what you have been afraid of hearing. Then, listen and ask questions to get to the heart of the matter. Don’t fall victim to the popular blame-game often used by others to deflect their responsibility. Straight talk and openness are required to create solutions. Note: If the fire is serious enough, before plunging in and making matters worse, dowse it by hiring an executive coach.

Badgering or Micromanaging Will Not Fix the Issue. Many times bosses feel helpless to resolve a current fire or a spark about ready to ignite. They default to nitpicking, playing the blame game, or steamrolling to get the results. These traits do not build high-performing teams, nor resolve the heart of the issue! When asking good business questions listen to your team members. Remember, you can fix the process, but, you cannot fix personalities.

Everyone Needs Training. Most fires are preventable with proactive actions. It starts with training everyone in how to conduct effective meetings, in-person and virtually. Remember, proactive training is ongoing. Focus on listening, conflict resolution, building trust, and holding each person accountable for the results.

Acknowledgement Work Wonders. It’s the boss’s job to let each and every team member know they are valued for their efforts. This can prevent fire-fighting. Why? When team members feel they matter, they are more likely to proactively prevent sparks from turning into out-of-control fires.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Being proactive as a boss is one of the most difficult challenges you will face. It’s difficult to know when to step in and when to simply advise. Jeannette Seibly has been an award-winning champion for people for the past 26 years. She has guided bosses and teams to excel. Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results.

Hope is not a strategy to get your team unstuck! Learn 10 ways to do it now.

How to Manage #MeToo Fears with Courage as a Boss

June 3, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

“60% of male managers are uncomfortable interacting with female co-workers.” (Sheryl Sandberg, Interview on CBS This Morning, 5/17/2019)

Today, many male bosses are fearful of accusations of sexism or harassment due to #MeToo. It is why male bosses refuse or avoid 1:1 meetings, travel, and work dinners/lunches with women.

This trend is hurting women and others in the workplace. “Business is a team sport and we must engage all genders in our quest to create a better future.” (Rachel Mushahwar, VP & GM at Intel)

In addition, many women are not mentored and overlooked for promotions. They are rated on “how people feel about working with them,” while their male colleagues are evaluated on “the quality and results of their work.”

Reality: a true high-performing team is representative of everyone.

The truth is, all bosses need to remember ignoring fears won’t make them go away. It requires courage and a new level of awareness for bosses to learn from and move past #MeToo fears. This is how you prevent accusations of sexism, harassment, and other discrimination.

7 Tips for Building Awareness

Job Fit Assessments. These tools help bosses (men and women) manage by reducing subjectivity. They improve the boss’s ability to hire, coach, manage and train with more objectivity. When you use factual data, everyone wins.

Persuasive Listening. When bosses and employees disagree, most do not know how to talk it out before it becomes a conflict. Do not allow conflicts or rifts in relationships to continue. As a boss, it’s your responsibility to learn how to elicit the best in others when talking and working with anyone.

Keep It Business Focused. When meeting with employees, bosses or co-workers, keep it focused on business. Stay away from sharing gossip, jokes, or personal issues. These can come back to bite you. When hosting events follow these three fundamental rules: 1) hold them in public venues, 2) limit your intake of alcohol, and 3) never gossip about work or people.

Share Selectively. Women are more likely to share personal and family challenges with others than men. Be responsible for what you share and who you share it with. Sadly, studies have shown women can be less supportive of other women’s challenges, particularly when there is a promotion at stake.

Hire an Executive Coach. Take workshops that help you understand human nature and hire an executive coach. This combination will improve your confidence, competence, and courage. Remember, good management and supervisory skills are developed over time.

Mistakes Happen. You will make mistakes along the way. Apologize and don’t do it or say it again!

Commitment to Success. Successful bosses know the commitment to each and every person’s success creates high performing results-producing teams.

My interactions with men and women bosses have shown that both are fearful of #MeToo. Courageous bosses have the courage to overcome these fears. When bosses overcome these #MeToo fears they creates a workplace free from sexism, harassment and other types of discrimination.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Are you a boss that needs the courage to handle confusing situations with your employees? Jeannette Seibly has been an award-winning champion for bosses for the past 26 years. Contact Jeannette today for straight talk with dynamic results.

Did you know only 10% of teams are top performing results-producers?
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Why You Are Not Being Promoted to the Executive Level

May 20, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

Lately, I’ve been talking with a number of people who are frustrated due to not being promoted. These conversations are the genesis for this article.

Did you know that almost 40 percent of new executives fail within 6 to 18 months?

What can you do to avoid becoming part of this statistic?

I’ve talked with many up-and-coming executives that believe “I’ve got this handled.” Although they were able to talk their way through the interview process, they did not convey the management, decision-making, and communication skills required to succeed as an executive. Some simply were not ready and did not know why.

Remember, you won’t have time to acquire these required skills after you are promoted since decisions at the executive level impact the entire company in real time.

What are the top 3 skills to learn before becoming an executive?

1. Do you have the emotional intelligence required?

-Are you aware of your impact on others?
-Do you manage appropriately?
-Are you aware and able to work through biases you have towards others?
-Are you able to compromise with others without sacrificing integrity?
-Do you effectively manage the impact you have on others in the workplace and with clients?

A mid-level manager, a GenXer, felt in his heart and mind that he was ready. He thought he had done the work, but, found out after he received his promotion that his new boss expected him to directly resolve sensitive client and employee controversies. Before his promotion, his former boss had resolved sticky situations. As a result, he lacked the experience, skills, and relationships to get issues resolved. Three months later, he was fired after a major client threatened to leave.

2. “Can you talk the talk?”

-Do you think, speak, and make decisions in a consistent and objective business manner?
-Words have power.
-Decisions made as an executive matter a lot!

An ‘older-millennial’ believed he was ready for a promotion to the executive level. But, others believed he lacked the ability to make good decisions and communicate at the executive level. For example, instead of using numbers and facts to back up his assertions, he used words like, “I feel” and “others wouldn’t be happy if we did that.” He soon left to become an executive for a competitor. Six months later he was fired for poor job fit. He still lacked the ability to communicate and make decisions at the executive level.

As an executive, you are an advocate for the entire company. It’s a huge job, and, at times, requires you to make unpopular decisions. Your ability to build relationships and communicate effectively is built over time, not in the moment. Additionally, strong financial skills are required and can be learned by starting with the basics.

3. “Are you coachable?”

-Do you have a coach? Most successful executives have coaches.

A mid-level director wanted to become an executive. But, she believed the executive team was “too male-oriented” for her to be accepted as an executive. Instead of hiring a coach and spearheading a campaign for her promotion, she kept waiting for the right time. That time never came and she left after a company merger.

What prevented her from becoming an executive? She lacked the willingness to take a risk and become her own advocate.

Moral of the story…hire the right coach for you, even if you have to pay for it yourself! It will be money well spent.

With the right coach, you will:

-Become a risk-taker and go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from the experience.
-Blast through “current challenges” that are in the way of building your “brags” and improving your experience, skills, and relationships.
-Boldly navigate through uncharted, and often, murky waters.
-Find out whether or not you’ve been sidelined and why. Then, with your coach, turnaround these situations.

Believe it or not, these stories are common and can happen to you! As an experienced coach, my advice to you as an aspiring executive is to prepare before the executive level promotion becomes available.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Jeannette Seibly is an experienced award-winning executive coach. She has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. Her clients have created more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Develop your executive persona and avoid being sidelined. Contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

How to Improve Confusing Situations by Talking Them Out

May 13, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

We’ve all experienced confusing situations in our jobs and relationships that we wished would simply go away. These situations can be messy, political, and fear-filled, and outcomes unpredictable. We justify our fears by thinking “I don’t have the time or ability to improve the situation.”

Confusing situations throw you off-balance. To improve them, you must get outside your comfort zone. Remember, your inner mental chatter rarely improves or resolves anything. It’s the outside “chatter” or “talking it out” directly with the person or team, that makes the difference. This creates the potential for win-win-win outcomes.

The Top 5 Approaches that Don’t Work!

-Manipulating the Situation. Being a “know-it-all” and dominating the conversation won’t improve the situation.
-Blaming Others. Not taking responsibility for the situation won’t improve the outcome.
-Denial. Pretending a confusing situation doesn’t exist won’t have it magically disappear.
-Lying. Are you willing to put at risk your job, promotions, and pay increases? The truth always surfaces one way or the other.
-Fear. When fear is your overriding emotion, your commitment to resolving confusing situations disappears.

It’s time to commit, stand up, and talk it out.

–If you have a problem working with your boss, sending out your resume won’t improve the relationship. Talk it out with your boss or HR.
–When you are upset with an employee’s behavior, ignoring or sidelining them won’t improve them! Instead, talk it out, rewrite their job description, and/or hire them a coach.
–When a client has lied to you, refusing to return their calls or ignoring them won’t resolve the issue. Instead, talk it out face-to-face after receiving coaching on how to do it effectively. (Don’t rely on previous experiences or current feelings to improve the situation!)
–If you have a negative attitude towards your neighbor, building a fence won’t heal the issue. Talking it out over a BBQ can.
–Implementing a new business model to fix the old model won’t improve a confusing situation. Instead, hire the right industry mentor and experienced executive coach to talk it out and resolve the underlying issue.

A Checklist for Win-Win-Win Outcomes

Talking it out and expanding what’s possible in the job or relationship is key to improving confusing situations. It takes time and requires sharing your POVs while listening to others’ POVs!

Ask a “what if…” question as an inquiry. (Hint: This means there is no right answer.)

For example:

-“What if each employee was responsible for being engaged in their job, what would that look like?”
-“What if you changed your job description, how would that improve your results with clients?”

Engage your boss or everyone on the team through brainstorming. Yes, you want to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions.
Listen for the golden nuggets in each person’s POV on how to improve the situation.
Stay away from biases or quick fixes.
When the proverbial elephant shows up in the room, be vulnerable by sharing it openly and honestly instead of ignoring it.
Align everyone on a solution before addressing the details.
Fear will naturally arise when people operate outside their comfort zones. Talk it out. For example, “Where could we find new resources?” (This moves you past the excuses of why it won’t work.)
Remind the team daily of the goal and intended outcomes. When new situations arise, and, they will, it’s time to talk further!
Track success. Celebrate and brag about it.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Jeannette Seibly has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. As an award-winning coach, she has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Improve the outcomes of your confusing situations by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

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Surprisingly, Listening to Feedback Can Make You Promotable

May 7, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

A 43-year-old boss was critical and subjective when giving feedback to his employees. They reacted by ignoring him, arguing with him, or simply continue to do it their own way. When his director demanded he learn how to give feedback to motivate his team, he gave in and hired a coach. He quickly learned he didn’t like receiving feedback either! The first lesson for bosses, it’s important to learn to receive feedback as well as give it!

Giving and receiving feedback can be difficult today. The #1 challenge according to research, “we aren’t the reliable raters of other people’s performance that we think we are; …” (HBR, 2019)

As bosses, higher level management encourages us to be critical of others. They believe this motivates everyone to excel. The truth is, most employees don’t listen to feedback, even when it is constructively offered. This hurts everyone’s ability to learn and be promotable.

Consider, you can learn something from anyone. This is feedback and makes you promotable. It requires you to choose to listen and hear what others are saying, particularly when you don’t want to do so. Otherwise, you risk having your career sidelined.

Why We Don’t Want Feedback

When you are emotionally attached to doing it your way, you don’t care what others think and blow off their feedback. You will argue your results are good enough and disregard the outcome or impact on others. This attitude towards feedback will derail your career.

How to Learn from Feedback

Listen Up! Do you want to be promotable? It’s crucial to fine-tune your willingness to hear feedback. When you listen through the filter of being criticized, you will feel criticized. If you listen to someone’s feedback as a gift, you will find it valuable. It’s always your choice!

Role-play from POV. Instead of ignoring feedback, role-play the feedback from the other person’s POV. This is a great way to better understand why they are saying what they are saying.

Listen for Objective Insights. Promotable bosses embrace feedback, even when shared subjectively. Deep dive by asking questions to uncover objective concerns. Remember, there is no absolute correct way to do anything. For example, there are over 100 ways to wash dishes!

Hire a Coach. Learning from feedback gets you promoted faster. Hire a well-seasoned executive coach. This expert will guide you through the unwritten company rules and help you build a strong confident work style.

Build Team Comradery. When you disregard your team members’ feedback, they no longer trust you. Develop an openness and valuing feedback when designing a project or implementing a plan. It will improve your results and limit unwelcomed surprises. Listen and ask good questions to build alignment and don’t ignore nay-sayers. (Hint: Nay-sayers often provide the best feedback.)

Make Feedback Constructive. Use a job fit assessment to objectively clarify why you do what you do. Remember, every strength has an inherent weakness that impacts your outcome. You need feedback to recognize this. For example, if you are a great listener, you will miss out on being introduced to decision-makers at networking meetings. Why? You allow highly sociable influencers (aka someone who talks nonstop) to get in your way of asking for introductions.

Jeannette Seibly is a well-seasoned award-winning executive coach. She has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. As a result, her clients have created more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Develop your ability to give laser-like feedback. Contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Alert! Overconfidence is the Downfall for Managers Today

April 30, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

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Overconfidence has become a management trend today, according to many studies.

A new manager believed he was ready to lead a $25M dollar project, even though he had never run a $1M project before. He sold himself by making bold promises and embellishing his skills. 60 days later he was fired and wanted to know why. He hired a coach and learned he had management potential, but, he lacked the managerial experience required to manage a diverse team. Later, he found why. His team hadn’t trusted him and disregarded everything he said. They believed he was, “too full of himself.” In other words, he was overconfident in his skills and abilities.

The overconfidence dynamic happens when managers overestimate their abilities to perform and deliver. When they fail, they are sidelined or fired without understanding the specific reasons why. To develop awareness, they need to set aside their I-got-this-handled attitudes. Then, listen, be coachable, and develop true inner confidence. (Hint: inner confidence is not based on ego or feelings; it’s based on a proven track record)

Are You Overconfident?

Awareness and mindfulness are important. At times, everyone has been or will be overconfident in their life and career. Learn to recognize and adjust the words or actions that signal you’re being overconfident. If you don’t, it may be your downfall.

Be honest about your skills. Take the time to conduct an accurate assessment of yourself. This includes talking with co-workers, bosses, customers, and vendors (a 360-degree review). Also, use a scientifically validated job fit assessment. This type of assessment goes beyond how you want to be seen. It provides objective insights into your strengths, skills, and abilities needed to excel as a leader or boss.

Stop comparing yourself with others. Too often, when you see someone make a mistake, you may become arrogant and believe you would never make a similar mistake. This is one important example of being overconfident and lacking empathy.

Test your assumptions before declaring your decision. Too often we make important judgments and decisions based on fragments of information. We fail to deep dive objectively into the pros and cons. Contact your network! 90% of the world’s information is in people’s heads, not the internet. Questions to get answered: Why did it work for that company? What are the differences between the companies? What is the “insider” information? This kind of analysis can help you make confident decisions.

Listen to others’ feedback and concerns. While it may seem easier to only focus on the positives, a healthy skepticism has saved many people’s careers and financial outcomes. All feedback is valuable.

Recognize when it’s the right time. While many ideas may be viable with modifications, it may not be the right time or place to put them into action. Beware if you’ve mulled an idea around in your head too long, it may no longer make a positive difference.

How to Work with Overconfident Managers

Stay aware and mindful in conversations. Listen up when your manager’s decision impacts you, your project, team, budget, etc. Ask good open-ended questions to learn how the decision was made.

Stand up and speak up. While it’s important to be assertive in these situations, diplomacy is critical. Remember, you may be right…but, overconfident bosses may ignore you in the future if their ego feels threatened.

If their idea or assertion does not impact you, avoid confrontation. Choose which issues to pursue. Otherwise, when a major issue needs to be resolved, overconfident managers will not be open to listening to you.

While we’ve all experienced overconfidence at one time or another, learn from the above strategies to avoid downfalls and create healthy inner confidence.

Jeannette Seibly has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. As an award-winning coach, she has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Develop a healthy inner-confidence by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

How to Successfully Overcome Your Professional Failures

April 23, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

Success.Failure

Consider that one hour out of 2080 work hours in one year is equal to .04 percent (.0004). Yet, in this minuscule amount of time, you can derail your career and become fired or sidelined. Worse, you may not even know this has happened until it’s too late.

Joanie, a senior manager of a Fortune 50 company, felt she was right to support her team and the budget for a new project. When Cole, her boss’s boss, asked questions about the numbers, Joanie went on the defensive. As a result, Cole’s ego got in the way. He was offended and embarrassed that he could not logically explain his apprehensions. In that one hour, she didn’t even know she derailed her career and was slated to be fired.

When Joanie shared the situation with her coach, the coach understood the predictable outcome…Joanie was going to be fired. She convinced Joanie to apologize to Cole. However, Cole would not talk with her. Then, the coach advised Joanie to get transferred to a different department asap. Joanie didn’t agree there was a problem since her boss Kevin hadn’t said anything to her yet. But, instead of waiting around, she got into action and got a new job in a different department with a pay increase. The first comment Kevin made to her a month later was, “I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but, congrats. Otherwise, I was not looking forward to firing you.”

The recent comeback of Tiger Woods is an international example that you can overcome setbacks, mistakes, and failures. He clearly had done the work required, even when faced with additional setbacks, to win the 2019 Masters Tournament.

Most professionals have experienced difficult situations. The challenge is, are we aware and willing to turn the situation around? Are we practicing and developing the right skills? Do we have the right external coach and internal industry mentor to help us avoid and overcome career traps? If not, it will take longer to transform failure into success.

First, and foremost, hire a coach to avoid the trial and error of “getting it right.” Most successful leaders, bosses, and executives learn this lesson early in their careers. However, it’s never too late.

Next, Do the Work by Practicing These Skills Daily

Read something that motivates you.
Meditate and visualize positive outcomes.
When driving or riding, listen to a podcast that educates you.
Build relationships daily through positive interactions. It starts with a smile, “hello,” “please,” and “thank you.”
Honor your word by fulfilling your promises and managing others’ expectations of you.
Promote yourself in a business savvy manner…it builds immediate credibility.
Help others succeed by supporting them in word and action. Ask, “How can I help you?”
Respect others’ opinions and ask the right questions in a way to elicit the best from others.
Listen to others’ ideas. Incorporate them into the project or plan where appropriate.
Be fearless in resolving conflicts, criticisms, and complaints for win-win-win outcomes.
Accept those things you cannot change (e.g., people’s personalities, weather, etc.).
Be resourceful and resilient when faced with challenges.
Be kind to yourself in how you think, speak, and write.
Have compassion for others.
Get into focused action…it overcomes procrastination and overthinking.
Apologize immediately if someone appears offended by what you’ve said or done. This is regardless of whether or not you are at fault.

Jeannette Seibly has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. As an award-winning coach, she has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Avoid career derailment by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

11 Reasons You Are Unaware Of that Make You Unpromotable

April 16, 2019 by Jeannette Seibly

Ghosted.work.2 Many seemingly qualified people today are being overlooked for promotions.

If you are one of them, you are probably asking yourself, “why?”

Sally failed in her presentation at a board meeting with insurance executives. She was unable to answer their questions in a tactful manner. Then, making matters worse, she justified her poor performance. She ignored the coaching offered by her boss because she believed her skills were fine. As a result, she was sidelined and when her boss retired, the board gave his job to someone else.

Often, we have an opinion of who we are and what it takes to get the promotion. Often, we are wrong and don’t understand why. The truth is, we have blind spots that get in our way. To be promotable, we need to be coachable.

Joe is a team manager in an engineering firm and hates his boss, Scott, the director. Joe justifies his feelings by sharing examples of when Scott swooped in and took over a couple of projects. As a result, Joe’s team needed to correct Scott’s errors. To make matters even worse, Scott decreased bonuses citing budget issues. Prior to working with a coach, Joe didn’t see his complaints about or conflicts with Scott as a problem. After all, all his co-workers hated Scott too. When the coach said Joe needed to resolve the controversy, Joe got upset. He retorted, “But you don’t understand…no one likes him!” The coach reminded Joe of his goal to be promoted. “To be promotable, you need to build positive working relationships with everyone.” Joe took the coaching and it worked! All of a sudden, Scott became easier to work with. After his co-workers began asking him for advice on how to work with Scott, Joe received an unexpected call from the company president. “I hear you’re doing great work. I want to promote you to an executive position when you’re ready.” Joe had done the work required to become promotable.

What do you need to do to be ready for the next promotion? The short answer is, hire the right coach to champion you to develop the right skills with the right attitude.

Focus on These 11 Key Skills

Listening. Stop mind-reading. Don’t start conversations with, “I know how you feel or how you think about …. This limits hearing new ideas that provide solutions.
Curiosity. High-performance individuals are curious and promotable. They deep dive into learning about their profession, company, and/or products. They develop advanced solid hands-on experience and don’t settle for mediocrity.
Job Fit. The #1 reason promoted people succeed is they fit the job! Before you leap to find the right job, hire a coach to develop clarity and avoid the costly trial and error approach. For fastest results, also use qualified 360-degree feedback and qualified job fit assessments.
Emotional Intelligence. Are you aware of how your words and actions impact others? Mindfulness makes a significant difference in your ability to lead others and have them want to follow you.
Attitude. If you are a know-it-all, you miss out on solutions that save time and money. Appreciate each and every team member and give them credit for new ideas and solutions.
Integrity. When you fail to fulfill promises, stay in communication, and return phone calls/emails, you are labeled a difficult person to work with. Integrity is key…do what others expect of you and do it well. It makes you promotable.
Focus and Resourcefulness. If you are easily distracted by the bright shiny object syndrome, you lack focus. This also happens when you get stuck and lack the initiative to find the resources required to get the job done well. Promotable people blast through perceived challenges.
Resilience. Do you allow team dynamics of conflicts, complaints, and criticisms to get in the way? Promotable people must be unstoppable when working with and through others to achieve intended results!
Positive Interactions. Do you believe you are fearless when you dominate and steamroll over others to get your own way? This approach rarely works in building teams or creating win-win-win outcomes, which are keys for promotability.
Self-Promotion. Being a braggart is not the type of self-promotion that wins you promotions. Learn how to brag in a biz savvy manner to get the promotion you want.
Compassion. Set aside being highly-critical and have empathy. All people have challenges, including you. Learn to ask, “How can I be of help?” Then, follow-through.

Being aware and developing the above listed 11 key skills and examples will start you on the road to be promotion ready.

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been a champion for people achieving results. She has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. To get promotion-ready, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

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