ARTICLES
Written By Rich For You.
Hybrid Work — Do What's Best For You.
HR departments are starting to communicate parameters of hybrid schedules to the employee population. I have one thing to say to everyone in this situation . . .
It’s been a long 22 months . . .
The accelerated effects of the pandemic on workplace life have, in fact, delivered a much-needed surprise — working from home.
Many companies and organizations are finding it advantageous to let their employees work from home because they have stumbled into many added benefits — productivity gains, reduced facility costs, and happier employees (who don’t have that long commute and can stay closer to their families).
As 2022 is almost upon us, management and HR are devising novel plans to embrace hybrid work so it benefits their needs and keeps their best people happy, engaged, and distant from the idea of fleeing the coop for another company.
HR departments are starting to communicate parameters of hybrid schedules to the employee population. I have one thing to say to everyone in this situation:
Do What’s Best For YOU.
Because, in the end, hybrid work is for YOU — your happiness and your productivity. So ensure your hybrid schedule benefits your situation, your productivity, your home life. It will not only ensure that you can continue with this new situation, but you can also enjoy and grow with it.
We all know that we rarely worked a full and productive 8-hour day. We filled the gaps with boring meetings, longer-than-needed phone calls, chatting with cubical colleagues, taking long lunches, etc. Just read Tim Ferriss’ first book, The Four-Hour Workweek (btw, he has an incredible podcast — catch it here).
Figure out what days are best for you to commute to the office and what days are best for you to work from home — when you’re most productive, engaged, and when it’s best for your home life, interests, and growth opportunities. Then communicate your needs (requirements) to your manager ASAP.
Again, hybrid work is for YOU — so take advantage of this new normal and make it work for you.
And maybe someday, hopefully in the near future, we might see the advent of a four-day workweek (it’s starting to happen).
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.
Motivate Your Team So They Stick Around.
Successful leaders figure out how to strategically motivate their team every day. The more they inject enthusiasm, energy, and excitement into a typical workday, the more loyal and engaged each associate will be.
"They should motivate themselves — I've got too much to do!"
And suddenly, your best people give their notice and leave.
It's a FACT: Successful leaders figure out how to strategically motivate their team every day. The more they inject enthusiasm, energy, and excitement into a typical workday, the more loyal and engaged each associate will be.
Here are 5 simple actions to motivate more like a leader:
Start with your attitude.
SMILE! You are the beacon of motivation for your team — if you aren't presenting your best self every day, nothing else will motivate your team. Set the example — make sure you start every day on a positive note and carry it through all eight hours. Don't let momentary issues drag you down — present to your team that the right attitude can conquer all problems, "We'll figure it out.". Unfortunately, you can't fake it — they will see it a mile away — be sincere and honest.
Ensure a healthy working environment.
Protect your team from malicious 'external forces' — we all know them, the over-zealous, competitive peer or over-bearing boss that brings the whole department down with their fears or insinuations. Your job as their leader is to let them know NOT to listen to these characters and get them back on track. Everyone loves to pick on success (look at Tesla, Apple) — your job is to insulate your team from their drama and re-focus them on their goals.
Find the right fuel to energize each associate.
This is the big kahuna — most managers have a 'managing script' they use to keep their people in line. Great leaders figure out what specific actions and communication patterns to use with each direct report to elevate their mindset and take action daily. Find out each 'fuel' and make sure their tank is filled up daily. Don't be that manager who drains their team's gas tank with unreasonable requests or out-of-the-blue critiques on their progress. It does the exact opposite of what you want — an engaged team that willingly supports you.
Be unpredictable with your motivation.
Mix it up — don't do the same things each week to the same people — it gets obsolete quickly. Think of new ideas and strategies to motivate your team members. I had a great manager many years ago who was an incredible motivator — right out of the blue, he grabbed us in the early afternoon and said he had 3 tickets to the tennis open, would we like to go? We all hopped in his car and had a wonderful time. The more you mix it up with your team, the more motivated they will become.
Embrace those who thrive; eject the problem children.
Get rid of the gossip, the behind-the-scenes drama — some people will bring the energy of the group down with just one well-placed juicy tidbit, "I hear they're reorganizing". You need to stamp out that type of behavior where it starts by compartmentalizing and re-directing that person or figuring out how to separate them from your team. These people are insidious and will counteract anything you try to do with their constant criticism and negative sarcasm. Fix or eject them ASAP.
Action Step:
Come into the office (physical or virtual) tomorrow and show them your energized and positive attitude. Follow the steps over the next week and see what transpires — you might be surprised how quickly your team embraces it.
We can go so much deeper into Motivation — but we wanted to give you a few quick, actionable steps to take away and use this week.
This is part four of our 4-part series on Leadership.
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.
Educate Your People To Build A Solid Team.
Great leaders build a learning journey for every team member who reports to them. Success relies on the consistent growth of your team, expanding their knowledge base and experience.
"You know your job — just do it!"
Most managers forget that educating your troops is an ongoing process.
Great leaders build a learning journey for every team member who reports to them. Success relies on the consistent growth of your team, expanding their knowledge base and experience. That approach is what keeps everyone happy and engaged (and not leaving for another firm).
Here are 5 simple actions to educate more like a leader:
Use an assessment to uncover their strengths.
Before you start making assumptions — use an established assessment tool to help you target what areas need work. A great tool I use is Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath - it presents hundreds of strategies for applying your team member's strengths and also change the way they look at work forever.
Expose them to new opportunities.
Work gets boring after a while — especially when you've mastered many of the areas where you are responsible. A good leader recognizes that the associate is at the end of their learning runway and they need to pull back the curtain. Expose them to something totally new — a new project, process, group, especially if it significantly takes them out of their comfort zone.
Coach them and teach them to be coaches.
Coaching is the cornerstone of professional growth — if you share your coaching skills with your team (most managers keep them tightly hidden), you'll see them grow exponentially. And it's a virus — it will spread from your team to other departments and the higher-ups will see the positive effects with increased productivity and fewer personnel issues.
Implement job rotation to mix it up.
Move your people around frequently — ensure that they're learning a broad spectrum of abilities, communication skills, and talents. If you just exercise one muscle, the others will atrophy. Make sure that you move your people into areas that test and strengthen their weaker business muscles. This also helps with those tedious tasks no one wants - share.
Give them purpose.
I've saved to best for last — don't just teach them checkers, give them the space to learn complex chess moves. For every educational growth level you present, show them the powerful purpose of it's effects and how it makes all ships rise in the organization. That will ensure a bright future for your people by exposing them to the rest of the company, frequently.
Action Step:
Over this holiday season, implement a strengths assessment. It will guide you on how to educate your team to a higher knowledge and experience base in 2022.
We can go so much deeper into Education — but we wanted to give you a few quick, actionable steps to take away and use this week.
This is part three of a 4-part series on Leadership.
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.
Do You Need To Delegate More To Be Successful?
Leaders build a delegation strategy in everything they do. The more they delegate lower-level tasks, the more time they have to spend planning, leading, communicating, and growing their team.
"I hate to delegate — it's easier if I just do it myself."
That's a recipe for a management disaster.
Leaders build a delegation strategy in everything they do. The more they delegate lower-level tasks, the more time they have to spend planning, leading, communicating, and growing their team.
Here are 5 simple actions to delegate more like a leader:
What will you delegate?
Effective delegation begins with defining your critical/difficult and non-critical/easy responsibilities. Make a quick list and then target the less critical and easier to accomplish items for your team members. We usually do the easier ones because we like them or they distract us from the more difficult ones. Be honest with yourself: what can you give away?
Who will you delegate to?
Andrew Carnegie once said, “The secret to success lies not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right person to do it.” The key to finding the right person to delegate an assignment to is to match their skills and attitude to the task at hand. Sometimes you might have to stretch someone's abilities to fit the responsibility - go for it.
Clarify the result.
Show them what to do, how to do it, who to interact with, and most importantly, the deadline. The more clear you are with your team member, the more effective they will be in solving your problem. In addition, they might come up with an innovative way of solving it!
Make them accountable.
They own the activity. Make sure they understand the ramifications of dropping the ball or doing an incomplete delivery (this is one of the enemies of delegation). They can enlist others to be responsible for discrete areas of the activity, but in the end, they are accountable.
Follow up.
Monitor their progress during the span of the project — schedule touch-base meetings to review what they've accomplished and if they are floundering. Pick them up, reorient them, and ensure they are back on track. Always have them deliver first thing in the morning, so if they miss something, they have the rest of the day to fix it.
Action Step:
Take a lower-level task and delegate it this morning. Follow the steps and see what transpires — you might be surprised how easy it is.
We can go so much deeper into Delegation — but we wanted to give you a few quick, actionable steps to take away and use this week.
This is part two of a 4-part series on Leadership.
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.
Do You Need To Communicate More To Be Successful?
You have to communicate strategically to your team, peers, and key people above you to be a great leader.
"Yeah, yeah . . . I have to communicate more."
NO, not 'more'.
You have to communicate strategically to your team, peers, and key people above you to be a great leader. It's not MORE communication, it's how, when, what, and why you're communicating.
Too many managers blather on, micromanage, pick on weaknesses, and worst of all, give faint praise at the worst time.
You do not want to be this person. You want to say the right things, at the right time, to the right people.
Here are 3 simple actions to communicate more like a leader:
PLAN AHEAD
Take time to see the big picture — who are your key connections — team members, peers, and superiors. Develop a plan on why you will communicate with them and how you will deliver that communication.
Every morning, take a few minutes and architect who you will interact with that day, what message you will use, and what it will accomplish. This should only take 3-5 minutes if you do it daily.
BE AUTHENTIC
Weak managers hurry their communication (bad status meetings, faint praise, etc.). You have to be visible and approachable.
Powerful leaders exude messages from the heart, target their statements with precision and ensure the recipient not only understands the meaning but reacts in an expected fashion. And they add a bit of fun too.
COMMUNICATE IN THE MOMENT
You can’t plan for everything — sometimes leaders are called upon to make a snap decision, ask for resources from their boss, or help a peer with a problem.
This only comes with experience and practice. Bad managers shy away from these opportunities, leaders dive right in and practice their craft.
At first, you will not be perfect, but as you hone your ability, you will find authentic, spot-on communication will flow right off your tongue.
We can go so much deeper into Communication — but we wanted to give you a few quick, actionable steps to take away and use this week.
This is part one of a 4-part series on Leadership.
We've just launched a new program: The Four Elements of Transformational Leadership where we engage managers on how to effectively communicate, motivate, educate, and delegate their teams.
It’s a series of customized timely workshops for your team to focus on growing their leadership skills over a series of months. Why months?
People learn by doing, not just attending a single 8-hour offsite — our program ensures that each candidate learns, understands, and takes action after each 60-90 minute live session.
In addition, we include one-on-one coaching sessions for each candidate to follow up on their progress, answer any questions they might have, and reinforce the right behaviors so they apply what they've learned in their day-to-day interactions.
You Will Own The Room! Or How To Present Effectively.
One of the best ways to grow your practice is to speak to large audiences and give them actionable knowledge. Once you do that - they have ‘test-driven’ the car, now they want to buy.
Last week, I presented to the International Coaching Federation's Career Coaching Group. The Career Coaching Group is a HUGE network of career coaches who span the globe helping executives, managers, and C-Levels make their way through today's corporate environment. I was asked by the leaders of the group to 'coach' all the coaches on how to present more effectively. I was honored to speak to the group and as a present to my readers, here is the recording of my workshop and the actual PDF presentation to follow along (see below).
A synopsis of the topic:
- What people want from a presentation
- How people learn and understand
- Good tools and techniques with bad ones
- How to deliver great presentations
- How to grow your practice with workshops
Link to Recording (mp3)
Top 10 Tools I Use To Work Anywhere.
I have a number of systems and tools to help me be my best at any time for my clients and also be able to boot up my office virtually — anywhere at anytime.
Ever since I left my corporate gig (so many years ago), I've had to modify my practice to work on the go and be 100% effective. I can't 'forget' anything, I can't carry around stacks of paper, and I certainly can't lose any important information.
What do I do? I have a number of systems and tools to help me be my best at any time for my clients and also be able to boot up my office virtually — anywhere at anytime:
1. Dropbox
Dropbox is a my online file manager which lets me store up to 100GB, plus it’s also a good way to sync my files across my various work and home computers and mobile devices. I can share files for collaboration, store and share photo and video galleries, and my data will all be safely backed up on Dropbox's secure servers. It connect seamlessly with my file manager, so it acts just like a hard drive — but it's virtual. And when a client needs a big file, I can grant them access to my Dropbox temporarily, let them grab the file, and then lock it down again. It's easy, cheap, and it's never failed me. Check out Dropbox.
2. Crashplan & iCloud
This is my online backup and as my tech team has instructed me, I should have it in two places. So I initially have all of my files regularly backed up to iCloud, Apple's proprietary cloud-based platform. It's transparent and I never notice it working in the background, surreptitiously copying my files and storing them offsite on one of their super-server farms somewhere in Utah. In addition, I use Crashplan, a continuous offsite backup platform with anywhere mobile app access. Even though both have been tested and proven, I have lived through file-loss and hard drive failures, so I have the scars. That's why I use two systems. Check out Crashplan & iCloud.
3. WD 1TB HD & 1TB Portable HD
Now let's move from virtual to actual hard drive backup. This is where I've earned all of my scars. Many years ago, I had an Iomega HD hooked to my laptop and thought the world was all pink and rosy. Then one day, it started to make a funny noise and suddenly, I couldn't access that drive anymore in file manager. All of my files and music were stored on that HD. It took three weeks and $600 to have a service recover most of the info and transfer it to DVD's. Never again. Today, I have two desktop 1TB hard drives from Western Digital (they come highly rated). Their redundancy allows me to ensure if one HD dies, the other has a mirror image at all times. In addition, I carry around a 1TB portable HD to hold many older files that cannot fit on my cherished MacBook Air. Check out my WD 1TB HD and 1TB Portable HD.
4. Macbook Air
My baby. This is the glue that holds my business together. Ever since I started my business, I've been on Apple products. Why? THEY DON'T BREAK. And if there is a problem, Apple is right there on the phone and at the store ready and willing to give me first-class service to fix it immediately. Why the Air? It is ungodly light — it's almost like my iPad. And since it has a 128GB SSD, it boots up within SECONDS. And it's scary fast too. Yes, there is a trade-off with graphics cards and HD space, but all of these weaknesses fall away when you pick it up and start working with it.
The 11-inch Air’s trackpad is still smooth, responsive, and easily the best in its class while the 13-inch display is brighter, clearer, and so vivid over ANY other laptop (other than the retina models). Battery life is phenomenal — I get at least 8 hours on a single charge, so I don't have to run around with my power cord all the time. Check out my Macbook Air.
5. iWork - Pages, Numbers, Keynote
These are the tools which make my business hum. For over 20 years, I worked on a PC and voraciously toiled with MS Office Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. They're great programs, but they're expensive and bloated. Honestly, looking back to my actual usage of each program, it was:
- Word - 30% - I did letters, newsletters, and one-sheet flyers. That's it. No mail-merge.
- Excel - 25% - I ran my financials and linked spreadsheets. But I was no CPA - no pivot tables, etc.
- Powerpoint - 100% - I ran this into the ground and used up all of its features.
Why did I move to iWork? First, it's much cheaper. iWork is $49.00 where MS Office used to run me $300-$400. And no bloatware - each module allows me to all that I could do with Office, but so much more.
- Pages - So much easier to use, the graphics look great, and there aren't a million items to choose from. Fonts are phenomenal and the template layout is easy to execute.
- Numbers - Think of it as Excel Lite. It's perfect for my practice - I never get into trouble and it's easy to develop a quick pie chart or graph for a presentation.
- Keynote - The real power-player of iWork. Hands down superior to Powerpoint - when I give presentations with Keynote, attendees flock to me and ask, "Who does your presentations? I've never seen them before."
Check out iWork.
6. Wordpress
This is the platform I use to run my website, blog to my readers, and get clients. It's robust, the leader in the industry, and it always has additional features to allow me to upgrade immediately. Not only that, it is so easy to use — logon, click 'New Post' and I'm off and running! I use the Thesis template and had Nurenu Brand Marketing design and build it. Check out Wordpress.
7. iPhone & IPad
Too much has been written on both the iPhone and iPad (and today you're probably going to see a lot more). But I use them EVERY day:
iPhone - this is my portable computer. I check it at least once every 10-15 minutes and I use over 70 apps to make my business and personal life easier. I've owned the original iPhone, the 3Gs, and now the 5. All three have been consummate workhorses and have allowed me to be the best coach I can be. Check out the Apple iPhone.
iPad - I use my iPad both as a personal tool (reading, surfing, movies, music) and a professional tool (presentations, training, blogging, email, etc.). Even though I have a Macbook Air, my iPad allows me to instantaneously access information and make decisions within seconds. It too has 60-70 key apps that help me navigate the web for info. Check out the Apple iPad.
8. Go To Webinar
This is my online tool to host my various Masterclasses (Get Tough!, and soon: Bulletproof Your Career & Accelerate Your Coaching Practice) and reach hundreds of members weekly. I can host teleconferences, webinars with presentations, or full video. It's reasonable ($99/month), reliable, and the interface is intuitive. Most competitors to GTW have terrible usability and are all but impossible to use — just ask anyone who uses these tools. Check out Go To Webinar.
9. Get Response
When I started my coaching practice, I used to send out PDF newsletters via email. What I started to find is a severe drop-off of readership because corporate mail servers began to interpret my emails as spam (even though their employees requested them). I had to turn to an automated service. Initially, for many years, I was with a cool service called Emma. They got the job done and their interface and look gave my messages a real elegance. Unfortunately, they became pricey if I wanted to send out multiple messages during a month. I then moved to Constant Contact. I found their interface and design wanting and ultimately realized they were nickel and dime-ing me for every little service. I then found Get Response. The perfect mix of Emma and Constant Contact — taking the best of both worlds and delivering them for less than $20 a month (and it has SO much more!). Check out Get Response.
10. Thule Crossover Sling Pack
I've been professionally working since 1984 and I've carried scores of briefcases, bags, backpacks, etc. back and forth to work. Lately, I've noticed many people pulling back on all the crap we carry and really culling down to what we really need to get the job done. That's why I bought the Thule Sling Pack. It's light, fits comfortably on my back, frees both hands if I need them, and holds ALL the stuff I need to be a traveling professional warrior. It has many pockets and is thoughtfully designed to organize all of the errant cables, pens, papers and electronics I carry. It's sitting on my table as I type (see photo). Check out the Thule Crossover Sling Pack.
Well . . . that's it. I hope you've enjoyed my extended post this morning and it gave you a little insight into the powerful tools I use to keep my practice running smoothly. If you have any questions about any of the tools I listed, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below (I LOVE comments!).