Surprisingly, Listening to Feedback Can Make You Promotable

feedback.promotable.3A 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, 2019

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.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Alert! Overconfidence is the Downfall for Managers Today

Entefy is building the first universal communicator, an AI-powered communication platform that seamlessly connects people, services, and smart things.

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, 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. Develop a healthy inner-confidence by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

How to Successfully Overcome Your Professional Failures

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

  1. Read something that motivates you.
  2. Meditate and visualize positive outcomes.
  3. When driving or riding, listen to a podcast that educates you.
  4. Build relationships daily through positive interactions. It starts with a smile, “hello,” “please,” and “thank you.”
  5. Honor your word by fulfilling your promises and managing others’ expectations of you.
  6. Promote yourself in a business savvy manner…it builds immediate credibility.
  7. Help others succeed by supporting them in word and action. Ask, “How can I help you?”
  8. Respect others’ opinions and ask the right questions in a way to elicit the best from others.
  9. Listen to others’ ideas. Incorporate them into the project or plan where appropriate.
  10. Be fearless in resolving conflicts, criticisms, and complaints for win-win-win outcomes.
  11. Accept those things you cannot change (e.g., people’s personalities, weather, etc.).
  12. Be resourceful and resilient when faced with challenges.
  13. Be kind to yourself in how you think, speak, and write.
  14. Have compassion for others.
  15. Get into focused action…it overcomes procrastination and overthinking.
  16. 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, 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. Avoid career derailment by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

 

11 Reasons You Are Unaware Of that Make You Unpromotable

Ghosted.work.2Many 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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!
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

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.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive a FREE guide, “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Prevent Your Employees from Making Costly Mistakes

Mistakes.2As a boss, how do you take an active role in preventing your employees from making costly mistakes?

  • -Address and simplify written employee policies and company procedures.
  • -Develop mentoring programs to help everyone navigate unwritten rules.
  • -Review practices employees have inadvertently created.
  • -Have an open door and open mind to hear what employees are telling you.

As you implement the above actions, be aware:

  • -In the U.S., average reading accuracy and comprehension is 8th-grade level or below. (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
  • -Many workers lack experience on how to prevent mistakes from occurring.
  • -Many fail to understand that shortcutting has an impact on others.
  • -Many employees lack the confidence to stand up and speak up.
  • -Employees are afraid of the repercussions from unwritten rules. This often includes “don’t tell or else.”

The good news is, mistakes can be prevented with awareness, training, and focused action.

Pay Now or Pay Later

Take Responsibility. When your employees suspect a problem, don’t downplay their concerns. If you do, you are less likely to hear about future issues. Never assume theft, harassment, or safety violations can’t happen on your watch.

Hire and Promote for Job Fit. When people fit their jobs and have strong work ethics, they are interested in doing their jobs well. Studies show job fit reduces costly mistakes in communication, ability to work with others, and work habits. Job fit also improves effectiveness in handling challenges. Use a scientifically validated assessment tool to determine job fit. Don’t forget to use an honesty and integrity assessment to uncover information about the theft and/or other previous employment issues not found in public background checks.

Review Confidentiality Requirements. People love to gossip. But, you never know who is listening at the next table. When insider information is shared, it hurts sales opportunities, funding, and the ability to launch new products. Remind everyone of their confidentiality agreements and advise them to keep sensitive information private.

Talk It Out. Talk It Out! Preventing mistakes can be a challenge since many people don’t believe there is a problem until after a mistake has occurred. Ethical issues are more challenging since spinning the facts has become an acceptable excuse. Remember, the truth will come out! When mistakes occur, your job is to listen with the intention of uncovering the facts. Investigate immediately before addressing with the person or persons directly involved. Be resilient in ensuring the right things are being done the best way for everyone.

Review Systems. When was the last time you and your employees reviewed policies, procedures, systems, and protocols? (In my experience, these are done maybe once and never reviewed again.) What needs to be updated? Periodically, facilitate a review with your employees. Provide training for how to handle concerns and make changes for the benefit of everyone.

These practices are how you can take a proactive role in preventing mistakes from occurring, now and in the future.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

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 ensure you are preventing mistakes from occurring, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Bosses Build Valuable Team Loyalty Each and Every Day

Portrait of business people discussing a new strategy at a seminar
Portrait of business people discussing a new strategy at a seminar

One of the biggest challenges many bosses are facing today is a lack of loyalty.

  • -Employees leave for lunch and don’t return … the boss has been ghosted.
  • -Team goals don’t align with the company’s values … the team doesn’t “feel” the values meet the customer’s needs.
  • -Bosses talk the talk, but, don’t walk the walk … employees are circulating resumes to find trustworthy bosses.
  • -Employees fail to stand up and speak up … they don’t feel valued, heard, or appreciated.

Recently, I talked with a boss who only wanted his employees to show up and do their work.  “I know what needs to be done; they simply need to do what I tell them to do.”

While this type of mindset may have worked a decade ago, it won’t create employee loyalty today. In fact, it will do the exact opposite.

Today’s bosses need to focus on developing their teams. In turn, loyalty will be created while improving profits and performance.

Build Loyalty, Not Followers

Ask for Input. Many employees love sharing their ideas. As a boss, it’s important to listen for the gold. When you focus your attention on building the team’s performance, they will learn how to brainstorm, listen, build alignment, and develop solutions. As one client stated, “We have 100’s of ideas, but usually only one has the ROI to meet the needs of both our company and our customers.”

Don’t Create Change for the Sake of Change. Many bosses today create change to embellish their resume for the next promotion. (It’s why over 30% of executives fail in the first 18 months in a new job.) These self-focused bosses end up creating uncertainty and distrust. Remember, change is a process, not an event. Listen more than talk to determine teams’ and customers’ concerns. Allow employees to spearhead these new initiatives. Ensure they are aware of the impact they have on the company and its customers. A new VP already believed he knew what was best for his new employer. While he listened to his team’s ideas, he had no intention of incorporating any of them. He thought he knew what was best. When his ideas failed to make a positive difference, he was fired six months later.

Hold the Team Accountable. When you change the goal to fit the results the team has achieved, everyone loses credibility. It’s demoralizing. Instead, hold the team accountable for achieving the intended results. Your focus is to coach the team on how to handle team dynamics (e.g., conflicts, egos, and shiny object syndromes). When they become stuck, don’t swoop in to fix it. Instead, focus on providing them the resources, initiatives, and encouragement to excel. That builds loyalty and trust.

Appreciate Everyone. Sincerely appreciating your employees is easy to do. Yet, many bosses fail to acknowledge and brag about their teams. Take time each and every day to do so. It builds better loyalty, trust, and better results.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. To build employee loyalty, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Successful bosses have coaches! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn how to solve your 3-P concerns (people, project, and performance). When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

 

Does Gratitude Make You a Better Boss?

Thank you.BossAbsolutely! Expressing gratitude shows that you care about your employees, job, clients, and boss. It’s a smart way to motivate others and keep morale up, particularly when faced with challenges.

When bosses and leaders are grateful for their employees, these employees will be 50% more productive. (Wharton School of Business study)

Expressing your gratitude can be done both verbally and in writing. Remember, your words and actions make a big difference in keeping talent and building a positive workplace culture.

Ways to Express Gratitude

Brag! Bragging about your employees sets an example for them to brag about each other. Include the small wins as well as the bigger ones!

Be Sincere. When expressing gratitude, it must be sincere. That will develop trust and increase job satisfaction. Set aside your ego. Learn to acknowledge others for each and every effort, even if it’s part of their everyday job.

Be Specific. Vague feedback or compliments are meaningless. Talk straight about the specific behavior or action an employee or boss has taken when expressing gratitude. This provides clarity about behaviors, attitudes, and actions they should repeat.  For example, say to an employee, “Thank you for taking the extra time to work with the client. They expressed to me their appreciation for your patience.”

Set an Example. Be humble and acknowledge specific roles people played in helping you and your team achieve the goals. For example, “Thank you for your great ideas during our brainstorming session. Because of your willingness to think outside the box, we nailed the issue and successfully completed our last project on time and within budget.”

Be Positive. Being grateful is not a one-time expression. It’s being thankful, even in the face of challenges. For example, when an employee hands in an assignment late, express appreciation to start a conversation in a positive tone. Then, you can delve into the challenges that need to be addressed to have assignments done on-time in the future.

Say Please & Thank You! These two powerful phrases still express a lot of gratitude when said with sincerity. Use frequently for best results!

So here we go … Thank you for reading this post! You are appreciated. (It felt good, didn’t it?!)

Remember, developing gratitude is learned by practicing it over and over (on a daily basis) until it becomes a natural part of who you are as a boss!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning speaker, coach, and business owner. During the past 26 years, she has guided bosses to create more fun, money, and success when working through confusing situations. Stuck in a project or other situation?  Contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Are you a millennial boss that wants to make a positive difference? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn about people, projects, and productivity solutions. When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Why the Best Bosses Are Humble

Bosses ListenBosses have a lot of power. It comes with the title, paycheck, and job description. However, when bosses lack true inner confidence, they become egotistical. They focus on their own self-interests and fail to create win-win-win outcomes.

Humble bosses understand outer power can be easily taken away. It’s why they are committed to quietly creating confident teams and positive results, creating humbleness.

7 Tips to Dial-Up Your Humility and Dial-Down Your Ego

Have Interest in Others. Being committed to the success of others is critical as a humble boss. When you remember the job is not about you, you make better decisions when focusing on what’s best for everyone.

Be Approachable. Make it easy for your employees to communicate with you. Get rid of gatekeepers that only tell you what you want to hear and shield you from the facts.

Develop Compassion. Coming from the heart and knowing everyone has their struggles is important. Be responsible for how you talk to and about people.

Share the Brags! You didn’t achieve the goal or success on your own! You did it with your team. Acknowledge them. Brag about them. Be a great team player and boss.

Be Curious. Be inquisitive by asking questions and listening. Learn from others. Incorporate their ideas into projects or decisions.

Be Respectful. Welcome others and their differing POVs. Encourage your team to share ideas and embrace these ideas. Engage them in the decision-making process by developing their critical thinking skills.

Admit mistakes. This is one of the most difficult for bosses to master. No one is perfect. Admit your mistakes and don’t blame others.

Humble bosses quietly create confident teams with positive results. Be a humble boss.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, money, and success when working through confusing situations. To develop your inner confidence and become a humble boss, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Are you a millennial boss that wants to make a positive difference? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn about people, project, and productivity solutions. When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

Failure to Listen Can Be Costly to You

Bosses Listen2Many bosses need to learn how to really listen. It requires more than just hearing the words and being able to repeat them back to the person. If you don’t master this fundamental skill, you will fail in your career.

Bosses, especially newer ones, want to express their ideas and convince others they are right. They are not interested in feedback or having conversations to build new outcomes. Instead, when they fail to really listen, they experience higher turnover, errors in system design and project overruns. These failures could have been prevented by listening and engaging their teams.

A 2018 article from Harvard Business Review states “managers who listen well are perceived as people leaders, generate more trust, instill higher job satisfaction, and increase their team’s creativity.” They also save their companies millions of dollars!

If you want to lead, you’ve got to use your ears. John Maxwell

Watch out for these pitfalls:

Being a Know-It-All. If you always believe your ideas are the best ones, you stop listening. Hanging onto your POV limits your ability to turn around projects and teams. Listen and gain insight from others. It often saves time and money… and can save your job.

Too Much Story Telling. Do you love to tell stories and feel it motivates others? If you are a highly sociable boss, you love to talk, but, usually don’t listen. You will often step over other’s ideas and experiences because you’re talking. Remember, your team has the technical skills to get the job done right the first time. Listen and encourage them to tell their stories, not just listen to yours!

When Your Team Fails to Take Responsibility. When a team shuts down and only does the minimum required to keep their jobs, it’s due to not being heard. The reason is you are not really listening. Your job is to guide them to take initiatives and trust them to become resourceful when stuck.  Listen and learn from them.

Experiencing Resistance from Your Team. Teams will resist your ideas by failing to incorporate them when they don’t believe your ideas will work. Take time to talk through your assumptions with the team. Listen to their ideas. Elicit feedback. If there is conflict, talk it through to build alignment. If you are still uncertain about what to do, talk it out and listen to your business coach.

Fighting to Be Right. Do you love to be right? Most people do. However, when your team says or does something inappropriate, turn it into a learning moment. For example, a team member comments, “don’t be such a girl.” Reply, “I’m curious, what do you mean by that?”

Being a great boss requires really listening…way beyond just the words! This skill is your most important asset to be mastered as a boss!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, money, and success when working through confusing situations. To develop your listening skills and improve your results, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

Are you a millennial boss that wants to make a positive difference? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to learn about people, project, and productivity solutions. When you register, you will receive FREE “How to Select the Best Coach for You!”

How to Handle Rejection as the Boss

women-business-rejectionEvery boss has experienced rejection from their employees. Today, younger employees are more vocal and dismissive about what they will and won’t do. Older employees will question and rebuff the decisions made by their younger bosses.

More so than ever, learning how to handle rejection is critical for a boss’s success.

If the fear of rejection is getting in your way, you’re not alone. It takes courage, communication, and the right coach to work through your fear and experience of rejection.

Your future success requires you to do so quickly or you will derail your career.

Overcoming the Fear of Rejection

Don’t Take “No” Personally. If team members are not accepting or not getting assignments done, it’s not personal. Use a qualified job fit tool to determine why. The assessment will clarify the person’s strengths and interests. Now, you can assign projects based on their strengths.  For example, if you need numbers crunched, ask the team member with the financial skills and interest to get the job done.

Get Over the Need to be Well-Liked. Most bosses want to be well-liked. But, remember being well-liked does not make you a better boss. Instead of wanting to be well-liked, focus on gaining respect. Give all team members the chance to shine and stop giving the best assignments to the team members you like.

Make Your Requests Positive. When you fear the word, “no,” your words and gestures will convey your fears. Move past this fear by having every request include how it will benefit the person, your boss, and/or team.  For example, “Joe, our team needs this projection for our next meeting. It will get us all on the same page. Can you help us?”

Seek Out “No’s.”  To get comfortable hearing this two-letter word, seek it out. Make requests of people daily who will normally say, “no.” For example, “Can you loan me a million dollars?” “Do you want to buy this product now?” Remember, “no” is not a personal rejection.

Develop Resilience. Embracing your fear of rejection will help you develop resilience. Hire the right coach to talk you through how to make requests, shake off past experiences, work with difficult employees, and embrace rejection. It will make you a better boss.

To be a great boss, learn how to handle rejection as a normal part of being a boss. Your career will thank you.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

For the past 26 years, Jeannette Seibly has been recognized as a catalyst and leadership expert. She has helped 100s of millennial bosses create more fun, money, and success when working through confusing situations. To develop your resilience, contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

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