Transform the Organization

How does “new normal” impact your leadership?

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The new normal is a paradigm shift. Old thoughts and beliefs are being replaced with new expectations about sustaining and growing our businesses. We may have to take new actions in order to acquire new clients and embrace new technology to meet expanding needs. We may need to refine marketing, sales, and hiring systems or give them a complete overhaul. But we will still need to measure successful operations, financial growth, and strategic planning against the company’s actual results to ensure we’re headed where we want to go. Integrity and ethics will be increasingly scrutinized by prospective customers and prospective top talent in the new normal.  Sometimes these shifts are for the better, and sometimes they are simply a passing fad.

A new executive kept telling the CEO they needed to make changes in their marketing plan and sales activities to attract larger companies. The CEO kept reminding her that “bigger clients are not always better ones, nor do they necessarily provide bigger ROIs.” The company’s strategic plan was deliberately focused on small to medium-sized clients. The new executive was unwilling to adapt and left because of poor job fit after 18 months—and the company grew and prospered because her replacement embraced the company’s strategic vision.

What is your responsibility as a leader? Stay consciously aware of shifting criteria. Some principles will start quietly until they become so loud that they demand your attention. Others are much more subtle and may only hang around until they are replaced by a newer craze or trend. Regardless, don’t follow blindly along. Take charge of defining which changes will work well for your company. Infuse as much objectivity as possible when making any modifications, and don’t forget the human factors, regardless of how small the modification. Your employees’ emotional reactions will create a smooth or difficult transition.

“The grass is greener at other companies” is a myth many job-hoppers believed when taking new positions that promise increased pay and work responsibilities. They may find that their new employer does not offer the same benefits package and other perks as their old one, or that their new bosses are not better people and project managers. Increased work responsibilities could instead simply mean working longer hours with fewer resources!

The key? Don’t become an ostrich with your head in the sand. Investigate and explore the potential impact of any new normal. Consciously choose when, where, why, and how to follow—or not! You don’t want to be left scrambling to refocus on the right things.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

What do you do when your boss keeps making the same mistakes?

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This can happen for a variety of reasons. One is that bosses don’t recognize their errors—they miscalculate the impact of their decisions because they are focused on the big picture and overlook the details, or vice versa. Or, they rely upon their financial, technical, and system interests while failing to include the human aspects required for a successful outcome. When bosses are clueless about their oversights and fail to ask the right questions, they normally blame others for not providing the whole picture. Don’t be passive. Become effective in recommending solutions. Take time to research and provide two or three alternatives, along with details for the execution of each proposed solution. Present these ideas both from a factual and a human perspective by introducing information that is the boss’s primary interest first, and then share the other important pros and cons.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

What process do you use to effectively work with your boss?

Use an outside sounding board to get you out of the mind-forest.

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“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” —Albert Einstein

When you’re immersed in the mind-forest of logic and/or emotions, your inner monologue can disguise the best path for your company to follow. You usually find yourself in these predicaments when there is a lack of clarity in the direction you’ve taken or a lack of integrity in the decisions you’ve made. Many times the problem could have been prevented if you had used an outside sounding board (e.g., a mentor, business advisor, or advisory board). It is easier for someone on the outside to point out the current or predicted obstacles, because they are not attached to the inner workings of your business. They can help you generate a new commitment to develop and execute a workable solution while creating an ethical, but not always easy, best course of action to achieve the right results.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Who have you talked with on the outside to get a clearer view of the inside of your company?

Leaders talk straight —or their company fails.

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There are many schools, workshops, and programs focused on developing leaders’ abilities to communicate effectively. The problem is they are not focused on how to elicit the best in others and are concentrated on rote comments or insincere platitudes. Some executives lack experience or basic emotional intelligence when conversing with others, while other business professionals are afraid to hear the truth, particularly when they fear what their bosses, employees or clients have to say.

In this geographically diverse business market, the challenge of pulling everyone onto the same page can be a daunting due to differing cultural perceptions. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to learn how to converse with others in a manner that gets everyone on board in a reasonable period of time. Relying on emails or texts can actually cause more harm than good, since communication is filtered through cultural experience. There is greater probability of your intentions being misinterpreted due to differing reading levels or misinterpretation of jargon, slang, etc. Remember, a conversation may take 20 minutes and elicit a truer picture.

If you, as the leader, are a poor communicator and don’t take responsibility for your interactions, your enterprise can quickly lose market share, top talent, and desired outcomes. Think through your messages and tailor them to your audiences. Write a draft and have it reviewed by another to ensure you are capturing the tone of the message you wish to send. In your closing comments, be sure to invite feedback and be open to hearing what others have to share—those insights could make all the difference in correctly tweaking the actions required to achieve intended results.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly

What practices do you use to ensure your messages are conveyed in a way others hear them?

Impatience stymies the best of plans.

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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

An executive coach’s job

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An executive coach’s job is to tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear. She or he is a sounding board with whom you can verbalize your intentions and fears, since sole reliance on your internal mental monologues can often steer you in the wrong direction. You could be led astray because you misread economic or business indicators, don’t track metrics and adjust accordingly, or simply fail to understand how to work with and through people to elicit ideas and generate focused actions to get the job done. Successful executives know that having a confidential sounding board is particularly invaluable when they hit the inevitable wall.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

How has an executive coach helped you?

Do you sound like a four-year-old?

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“I don’t want to and I shouldn’t have to.” Many professionals take new positions that include tasks they don’t enjoy and are unwilling to do because the new job offers a better paycheck, job title, or other perks. Yet every role has those hated obligations that you need to get done right in order to keep your job. A childish reaction of “I shouldn’t have to do it” is never a good attitude, and doesn’t bode well for future opportunities either.  

One client wanted a new job and got it. He took on a job his new co-workers refused to do. He met with each client and asked the tough question “What can we do to improve?” It transformed his ability to deal with controversy and build teams to resolve issues, and it positioned him for a big new job—running his own company.

Instead of focusing on what you don’t want to do, adjust your attitude and focus on the results. One solution is to focus on resolving customer dilemmas (both internal and external). Or, focus on system improvements you can create with your team by learning the procedures from start to finish. By developing the right inner talk and correct actions, though you may not love your assignments, you’ll get them done well—the sign of a leader with a high social intelligence. This can-do attitude will be recognized when it is time for performance reviews, pay increases, bonus payouts, and promotion opportunities. (Don’t forget to learn how to share these achievements in a business-savvy manner! http://TimeToBrag.com)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Do you believe you’ve mastered the art of skimming resumes?

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Many HR professionals and recruiters falsely believe they’ve mastered the art of skimming resumes. The sad truth is they miss out on many great candidates. Although job candidates do have a responsibility to learn how to sell themselves (http://TimeToBrag.com), reliance on reviewing hundreds of resumes with our inherent biases and limited analysis skills will not attract the right people to our enterprises. Learn how to infuse objectivity early in your hiring process and you’ll increase your qualified candidate pool while achieving better hiring results. (See: Easily Infuse Objectivity Early In Your Hiring System: http://wp.me/p2POui-nj)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

Executive coaching removes elephants in your career.

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Many times executives see coaching as “remedial fixes,” and not enough to remove the elephants in their careers that prevent them from enjoying more money, time, and success. A business advisor can help you design and implement successful results that impact company mission and goals, thus saving your current job and future career—even if you’ve been unknowingly sidelined!

Being the lone ranger and thinking you need to have the answers to everything rarely makes a positive difference for the enterprise. Reading a book or attending a workshop can actually have detrimental results when you attempt to superimpose your limited insights on your organization.

One client had said, “If I had known you would have asked to me to have this conversation with my boss, I would never have hired you.” My response, “A good thing you didn’t know … otherwise you would still hope for a different result without having taken the correct actions. Now you enjoy a lot of notoriety, make more money, and have more fun in your job!” He agreed.

When you embrace coaching and take the appropriate actions, you develop your skills in critical areas such as conflict resolution, project management, and working with and through people to execute ideas effectively. These processes ensure you see alternative solutions while developing your business acumen, taking you from OK to good to great. Many executives rate their coaching experiences as one the best investments of their time and money. Remove your elephant today!  Contact Jeannette Seibly @ JLSeibly@SeibCo.com.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

How has executive coaching helped your career?

How do you handle a boss that leads by directive?

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There are bosses who will strut around and issue directives. They have a huge fear of people and rely upon their dictatorial manner instead of learning how to make requests of others. Fearful leaders often make poor decisions because they are not open to others’ input and fail to learn how to talk with and through others to bridge gaps in ideas and create workable, practical solutions. As the employee or part of the executive team, help avoid troubling edicts by meeting the boss more than halfway. Provide ample facts and human solutions to persuade the decisions toward a more appropriate outcome.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

What have you effectively done to work with a dictatorial boss?