Results producing ideas

Impatience stymies the best of plans.

by

Many gung-ho executives and entrepreneurs have one thing in common: They can be in denial about how fast they can achieve their vision or idea. Although failure is not an option for these dynamic leaders, their impatience stymies the best of plans.  While being confident and persistent are important, so is the ability to work with and through others to make the plan a reality. Emotions, office politics, wanting to be the best at the expense of others, or being focused on a personal million-dollar payout will cloud logic, ethics, good business practices, and common sense. Impatience diminishes the effectiveness of your team! Learn how to tame your impatience and use perseverance and dedication effectively to propel your team forward.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Avoid strategic plan nightmares.

by

Executing ideas that sounded great in creative sessions can turn into nightmares. Often, execution fails because of the “bright, shiny object” illusion or a failure to address the reality of current work practices.

Poorly designed goals and action plans that don’t incorporate the current systems and people or are mismatched with the company’s vision and values will fail. Jokingly threatening to fire everyone and hire the “right ones” to get the idea to work is a fool’s mission for any company. Threats like these should be seen as warning signs about the workability of any blueprint.

Create workable goals and don’t change the goal to accommodate the action plan! Learn how to work backwards to produce a focused action from the desired result—it will illuminate often-overlooked problems. These discoveries, when realistically addressed, will help you avoid strategic plan nightmares.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Are you really ready?

by

You, like many employees today, may believe you are ready to move forward in your company to take on more responsibility. The bigger questions to first ask yourself: Do my customers, co-workers, partners, and management agree? It’s not enough for you to believe you can do it. Others need to have faith that you can and will deliver the intended results. A qualified 360-degree assessment can help you clarify what you need to do to advance. Hiring an executive coach can help you close the gap from where you are now to where you need to be in the near future. (http://SeibCo.com)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly

Have you waited too long?

by

Many bosses and managers wait too long before calling a business advisor. Why? It’s hard to admit they need someone else’s help. They falsely believe asking for help diminishes their credibility, and they hope if they wait long enough the issue will simply go away. Instead, the situation often continues to get worse. Eventually, a once simple fix will no longer work! While you may be able to initially outtalk your employees and board’s concerns, it’s simply a matter of time before your job is on the line. Get into action now. Contact a business advisor today. It will be the best call you ever made! That call may save your job. (http://SeibCo.com)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Cross-Train for Success

by

With summer vacations approaching, it’s a great time to be cross-trained in other jobs to learn new skills. Sell your boss the idea, as well as the person who currently holds the position. Also, it’s a great occasion for bosses to get realistic hands-on experience doing their employees’ work! Be sure your own work responsibilities are handled, and that you meet current deadlines. These new opportunities will provide you with a breadth of knowledge on how your department and company work and additional Brag! statements (TimeToBrag.com) when seeking future promotions and pay increases. Remember, do the job as it’s been structured by not making any changes—being labeled a meddler will limit your future success.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Revealing Your Vulnerabilities

by

“We all have a habitual tendency to act in a particular way – often unconsciously – that thwarts our results.” Jeannette Seibly

As rising stars within our companies, we are careful not to show our emotions and to hide our sensitivities. We fear doing so shows incompetence or weakness. Revealing your vulnerabilities has derailed many upwardly mobile professionals, especially when they are simply sharing to share. They don’t have a point, wish to join the “ain’t it awful” club, or want to minimize someone else’s experiences.

As a leader, learn how to disclose your experiences with the intention of showing others how to learn from your mistakes. Start with the end point before including any other information. Communicating personal experiences can help when talking with idealistic or difficult employees in order to get them to open up. Be open to admitting you don’t have all the answers, and talk straight. Revealing your vulnerabilities appropriately builds trust!

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Do you know when to trust the data or your instincts?

by

Successful leaders have to grapple with this dilemma often. They believe their intuition is telling them what the true answer is. Or, they want to trust the numbers. However, intuition can be wrong and 100 percent reliance on data can send you down the wrong path too. Developing a strong business balance between statistics and your sixth sense takes experience, time, and practice. As business owners and executives know, making the wrong decisions can cost the company more than money. It can also cost their reputation, clients, and top talent.

What do you do when you don’t trust the data? Trust the process. For example: When you hire a person based upon your gut reaction, even when the facts disagree, you didn’t trust your selection system. The truth is, failure to pay attention to good objective information will negatively impact your decisions.

Better questions to ask yourself: Do you know how to correctly use qualified hiring tools and follow a strategic selection process? (BizSavvyHire.com)  Do you have an unconscious habit of hiring and firing until you find the right person? (Hint: Honestly look at your turnover numbers.) Asking these types of questions can help you determine the underlying (aka real) reason you may not trust the data. 

Which one do you trust when your data or intuition is contrary to others’ opinions? Trust yourself and be open to being right and wrong. For example, many times when a company is experiencing difficulty achieving results, it’s because a controlling leader or dominating team member made erroneous judgments based heavily on facts or feelings. Learn to ask good business questions and listen to people’s responses. Being open to changing your mind doesn’t mean you have to. However, being adamant that you are right is usually a sign of impending disaster.

Strong leaders trust themselves and know how to develop win-win outcomes by working with and through others. They are prepared for the downside of any decision. They use their results as dashboards to develop trust in themselves and others when making balanced factual and intuitive decisions.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Has Your Project Gone Off Track?

by

Project managers can become fearful when a project is past due and over budget. At that point, they have usually lost control of the team and feel disempowered and blameful. To make things more difficult, they refuse to get qualified advice on how to get back on course to achieve their goals.  Instead, they spend more time coming up with excuses the boss will agree with than making the right changes to the action plan.

Successful project managers have a stronger commitment to the project and team than to their egos. They stretch their minds by listening and asking good business questions, not questions designed to force others to agree with them. They believe 99 percent of the world’s information is in others’ heads, and their successful results show it!

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Want to be leader of excellence?

by

Many business professionals have the goal of becoming leaders of a team, company or industry. Yet, many fall short. They fail to develop the key characteristics so crucial to giving them and their company the competitive “edge factor” required for excellence.

Great leaders inspire.

They are visionaries. Often strong employees and managers focus too narrowly on their own little sphere. They fear political corporate pushback. They hope someone else risks making the changes required for the company to become successful. As a result of this paralysis, they fail to create the opportunities, systems and attitudes necessary to generate a positive ROI. Visionaries, however, are fearless and know that if someone isn’t listening, they can find someone else to support their efforts.

They believe there isn’t a problem that can’t be resolved. Leaders have a mindset that recognizes problems and obstacles, but do not allow themselves to be limited by them. They formulate ideas and know how to enroll others into devising solutions to “make the results happen.”

They are driven to excel. While many companies rely upon incremental steps to achieve goals, great leaders look beyond 100% success. They create goals to achieve what may initially seem impossible. They hire the right business advisors, coaches and trainers to support their people to succeed.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2012

Not Producing Intended Results?

by

Leaders often are perplexed when a project or plan is not working. Everyone wants to change the goal. The plan was created to achieve a specific goal; changing the goal is a strange way to produce those intended results! A compelling goal that is well-crafted requires commitment, focused actions and the right people. Too often the success of any team effort is contingent upon the leader’s people, project and profitability skills. Leaders often derail a team by failing to include others, building upon their ideas and staying focused on the ultimate goal of a profitable venture.

Difference of opinions. Many groups crash when they don’t take the time to effectively work through differences of opinions. Team members must be heard; otherwise, they can become trouble-makers! Productive discussions, sometimes seen as confrontational, are required to build better outcomes, uncover overlooked problems and build agreement.  Team leaders and members need to provide on-the-spot training to show others how to use persuasive listening skills to encourage everyone’s contributions.

Doomsday conspiracy. When people on a team are not committed to the plan designed to achieve the goal, or the goal itself, the project will fail, for either reason. A conspiracy of nay-sayers will evolve to rationalize their point of view when leaders don’t listen. Every member of the team has the responsibility for ensuring others’ concerns are addressed.  Many people view change as difficult, not necessary or are fearful of an unknown outcome. As the leader, it’s your role to facilitate actions and conversations to support the intended results, while positively impacting the bottom line, client relationships and a positive workplace.

What’s in it for me? Employees today want to know what’s in it for them. It’s important to provide insight into how their contributions are part of the solution. Start by sharing the situation or problem needing to be resolved, along with the proposed goal and plans to achieve the goal. If it impacts their potential bonuses and/or paychecks, share this in a positive manner. Honesty is key.  If they are not readily agreeable with the goal or project, they may be hearing it for the first time and need additional time to process it. Remember, you’ve been thinking about it for hours, days, or months!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2012