Be A Better Leader - 20 Leadership Hacks For Managers.

I managed large teams for over 15 years in corporate and have been coaching C-Level clients for 15 more. During this time, I've probably run into every scenario a manager can experience. 

​Here are my top 20 hacks to make you a better leader (in no special order): 

1. Motivate people, don't command them. It's a lot harder, but you will like the results a lot more. Find the fuel that energizes them.

2. Identify your key employees and reward them so they know they're valued. Don't worry about losing poor talent.

3. Translate upper management's vague directives into things your team can understand and take action on.

4. Never bullshit your staff. If something requires secrecy for the good of the company, just be clear on 'I cannot discuss that’.

5. When things go well, don't tout yourself to upper management, tout your team. You'll get the credit as well.

6. Don't worry about losing poor talent. In addition, the best thing you can do for your best people is to get rid of the worst people.

7. Elevate the individual and team as a whole when someone does great work. Let them take the limelight.

8. When someone on my team screws up, be the responsible "buck stops here" person as the manager. Act as the umbrella to ensure the wrath of senior management does not rain down from above, and it's your responsibility to discipline them after you catch shit from on high. In addition to that, any discipline effort should be an opportunity to learn from mistakes. Help them to help themselves when they need to recover from a mistake.

9. Don’t be their friend. It's not worth it. You are no longer "One of the guys/girls" You can have fun, don't be a jerk, but you will never be one of them again. Don't try to be. Be cool, but not that cool, otherwise you will get walked on.

10. The more you make your employees feel like they're working with you, and not for you, the smoother the sailing. That being said, make sure boundaries are clear.

11. Always remain calm. The way you react to and handle situations will have a profound and lasting effect on your staff.

​12. Criticize in private, praise in public. Praise often, punish seldom.

​13. Figure out the intricacies of discipline and HR at your organization.Any serious disciplinary actions need to be absolutely by-the-book. Get help and a buddy in HR.

​14. Learn to listen. Especially to the new hires. And the quiet ones.

​15. Be loyal to your employees and they will be 10X loyal right back.

​16. Learn to delegate. It creates frustration in the short term, but saves you huge amounts of time and makes people feel more important in the long term.

​17. Create an environment that people want to work in. I find people work harder and are more motivated if they're happy. Don't micromanage, treat people with respect, and create a sense of joining a team rather than a top-down approach.

18. Always be fair. Everyone talks to each other and compares the slightest things whether you like it or not. If you have favorites or treat someone differently, eventually people will find out. This will definitely effect how they see you.

​19. Create an open door policy. My favorite policy is that I never mind when people ask questions about the situation or what they need to do. I'd rather someone mess up rather than doing noting. Of course, I'd rather someone ask me questions so they can figure out how to do things on their own, effectively, and efficiently too. Similarly, this also helps with building respect, creating a sense of team, and having more motivated and happy people.

​20. MOST IMPORTANT: Take care of your people and they'll take care of you. 

5 Ways to Heat Up Your Motivation.

This time of the year, most businesses tend to power down a bit (not all mind you) and it give us time to plan for 2018. Unfortunately, many of us also power down and procrastinate until we're in the middle of January. Our motivation for growth dissipates. Instead of cooling down, I want you to heat up your motivation for your business and show your clients/customers what you really can do for them.

Talk To Your Best Clients/Customers

It's that time of the year — bring them a present to show them how much you value their business. Don't send it to them — hand deliver it and tell them what they mean to your success. While you're there, run some new ideas/strategies by them to get their input.

Talk To Your Feeders

You know who they are — those wonderful people who deliver your best clients/customers to you. They are usually natural marketers, who promote services they believe in. Make sure you take them out for lunch and get their input on new ideas you might have.

Talk To Your Competition

You might think I'm crazy — but talking to your competitors is a powerful thing to do for your business. Not only does it test your confidence in your own business, it allows you to see what the other half is doing. In addition, you both might come up with an agreement to share clients when it benefits both parties.

Talk To Your Vendors

Reach out to the people who help you make your company what it is today. They have a major stake in your success and they probably have a few ideas on how to make it even better.

Talk To Your People

You are not an all-knowing, omniscient deity. You're just a human being with faults just like the rest of us. Reach out to your team and see what ideas they might have to grow or change your services. Many of my clients do this on a regular basis and they get gold from their employees. In addition, the employees feel appreciated and part of the process.

Have any other ideas to heat up your motivation? I tried to keep it to five, but there are many more out there. Let me know!

Why Don't We Hug More?

Who's a hugger out there? Many years ago (25 to be exact), my best friend's sister and her husband came over for dinner one night. At the end of the night, when we were saying our goodbyes, instead of handshakes, we got hugs from both of them. Not just the quick hug — but a deep hug with a real squeeze that meant something.

It might sound funny that I remember that 25 years later, but it made an impression on me. It was powerful. And before we go any further, let me state that there was nothing leading or sexual about it. It was just a hug. But it was a great hug.

Let's be honest, a handshake just goes so far. I totally understand if you just met the person — at that point, a handshake is perfectly fine. But during personal interactions, when you meet someone at a small holiday dinner party and you speak with them for the better of 3-4 hours, isn't a good hug at the end of the night a great way to share your personal experience? I think studies find that it's a bit more sanitary too — no real hand-to-hand contact.

How about professional interactions? I can totally understand the 'sexual harassment' issues that might arise if your gave a hug the wrong way to your team, peers, or superiors. How about with established vendors that you've been working with for years? Is a hug in order then? I know when someone wins an award and if it's in front of a lot of people, hugs are normally given.

Step back for a second — hugs are GREAT. They impart real feeling to the other person — a deep appreciation for who they are and what they mean to you. Especially when you've known or worked with that person for a long time.

So if you could hug more professionally (without fear of any harassment charges) would you? Do you hug now?

I would love to hear your stories about how important hugs are for you!

P.S. If you're not convinced, here's a video you should watch — click here.

Image: Royalty-Free License from Dollar Photo Club 2014.

Your Communication Skills Stink.

If you pare down your job or business — and take away all the extraneous stuff you do — the most important part is COMMUNICATION. Simple, two-way and CLEAR communication. I give you information and I get your response. You tell me to do something and I tell you when I can get it done. I explain the merits of my products and services and you buy. And on and on and on.

Here's the simple fact — it's not as easy as it looks. In fact, some people tend to screw it up most of the time and wonder why they are being listened to or why their people or clients are not doing what they've been told. Do you find yourself saying:

• "They just aren't listening!"
• "Why are my clients checking out?"
• "Why do I tell my team one thing and they do another?"

If you catch yourself saying these and other choice phrases — you might need to tighten up your communication style.

Communication is a very complex process. When you communicate, you need to keep a sharp eye on the person you are communicating to. Why? There are so many signals where you need to modulate your communication to ensure they are understanding what you're saying.

Communication is made up of two competing spheres:

1. Facts & Information (F&I) - this is the 'what' of the conversation. And usually where you do a good job of transmitting.
2. Emotions & Feelings (E&F) - this is the 'why' of the conversation. And usually where you do a bad job of transmitting.

To communicate effectively, you need to better balance the two. Most of the time, we spend 80-90% of our efforts in F&I and 10-20% in E&F. Unfortunately, in certain situations, you need to increase your E&F — but you don't — and this is where communication breaks down.

Why does this happen? Because communicating facts and information are easy — you just blabber away. Emotions and feelings take a certain amount of restrain — you have to ask questions, listen, and react to the other person's feelings and emotions. And that's hard for most people. It's the EQ (emotional quotient) of the conversation.

The bottom line — if you take the E&F into account and speak to it — your communication success will increase exponentially.

But how do you bridge that gap? Three steps:

1. Bring Them In.

Bring them into the conversation. If you find you are doing all or most of the talking, STOP. Start asking them questions, get their side of the conversation, issue, or situation. Then paraphrase what they said to ensure you are listening correctly, and then ask more questions. We tend to blabber on without a care about the person we are speaking with. One of my favorite phrases to use is "Tell Me More". If that fails . . .

2. Ask Them A Permission Question.

Pause and then ask one of these permission questions:

• May I offer a suggestion . . . ?
• Can we further explore . . . ?
• Would it be alright if . . . ?
• With your permission, can we . . . ?

These permission questions immediately stop the conversation, reverse it, and allow you to better understand what's going on in the head of the person you're speaking with. If that fails . . .

3. Tell Them A Story.

One of the best ways to bridge the gap between Facts & Information and Emotions & Feelings is to tell a related story, example or scenario. It adds weight to the conversation and allows the person to visualize and mentally illustrate what you're talking about.

Each of these steps allows the speaker — YOU — to better communicate, bring the client or team member into the conversation, and hopefully deliver better, faster and more clear communication to whatever you do.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW 

Your Communication Skills Stink – Part Two.

Last week, I covered why communication is so important to business. Speaking with your clients, team, peers and boss are all critical to your success and are usually the nexus of problems when things go awry. See Part One here. If you break down the structure of communication, it really is the transmission of information. You say something, I respond. I say something, you respond.

It's a 'Give & Take' relationship, but sometimes the signal lines can be bad. The wires are compromised. Emotions get in the way.

And this can happen in a millisecond. It's probably happened to you — you are speaking with someone and suddenly — they shut down, they get an angry look on their face, or they bite back with venom. It's all happened to all of us — we chose the wrong word, or focused on the wrong example — and BAM! We get hit right in the nose. And it hurts.

Especially when communicating information. When selling to a prospect, instructing a team member, or speaking with a superior, one needs to be SO careful — here is the architecture of the conversation.

On one end is IDU — I Don't Understand. On the other is YDU — You Don't Understand.

IDU is the state where the person begins to shut down because you are speaking about a subject they don't know or understand. You are talking OVER their head. When it happens, the person starts to feel inferior or incompetent and they shut down.

YDU is the state where the person begins to get angry because YOU don't know or understand their situation. You are talking PAST them. When it happens, the person starts to feel angry or contempt for you — they begin to interrupt or sit and stew with anger.

IDU is on one end of the spectrum and YDU is on the other end. Your job is to remain in the middle with your communication, giving them info while ensuring you don't venture in IDU or YDU territory.

And the way to ensure this doesn't happen is to:

1. Watch for physical signals. They might start looking away or looking angry or impatient. They might not respond immediately or come back with a response that sounds frustrated or angry. On the phone, listen for typing or clicking — they are not listening, they are multi-tasking.
2. Ask questions along the way. Like: "Are you with me so far?" or "Am I speaking too quickly?" or " Do you want me to review any aspect of what I just covered?" or "Do you know this already?" This gives the receiver a chance to better understand the information and will quickly take you out of the IDU/YDU area.
3. Paraphrase their response. When they do respond, paraphrase what you just heard. This will quickly take you out of the YDU end of the spectrum.

Communication is so critical for your success — make sure it is TWO-WAY!

How To Play To Your Team's Strengths.

Take a moment and reflect about the each person on your team and the skills and strengths they exhibit. Where do they excel? What do they like doing?

How can you as their manager, provide additional opportunities to excel and do the things they love to do?

I'd like you to take a piece of paper and draw three equally spaced vertical lines (or you can use the attached template - click HERE).

In the first column, write each person's name with their title.

In the second column, list their strengths — what do they do well?

In the third column, brainstorm opportunities how to leverage their strengths.

That's it. If you do this on a regular basis (every 3-6 months), you'll find your team more approachable about taking on more work, higher visibility projects, and having fun at the same time.

Why? Because you are taking advantage of their strengths and interests.

What is your #1 strength or interest? How do you leverage it every day?

How To Reward Your People.

Fact: We don't regularly acknowledge the people who make our 'career machine' run. Everyone who works so hard to make us look good to our clients and management.

So here's a old tool to help you remember. It's called R E W A R D S.

R = Results Only reward results to encourage behavior.

E = Explainable Able to explain to everyone else.

W = When it happens Reward someone as close to when it occurs, it's stronger, more powerful that way.

A = Available Available to everyone on your team. Don't play favorites.

R = Repeatable Other people on your team can do the same thing and the same result will occur.

D = Designed Specifically for the person, personalize it. It makes it special.

S = Share publicly Make an announcement, encourage new behaviors.

Try it this week — you will begin to see it slowly change your team's efforts.

What do you do to reward your staff?

Add More Torque To Your Organization.

What’s torque? It’s a measure of the turning force on an object such as the pushing or pulling of a wrench handle connected to a nut or bolt. It produces a torque (turning force) that loosens or tightens the bolt. If you elongate the wrench handle (by adding a long pipe) you increase the torque, or turning force on the bolt.

Cars have torque too - it’s your gear system. In first gear, you have the most torque on your drive train (which ultimately moves your wheels) and you can climb any incline. But as you move up the gears (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), you use less torque and your car can go faster and faster and faster.

I feel like Tim Taylor from Home Improvement right now.

Let’s talk about your career.

How can use less torque to what you do? To go faster and faster with less effort? How can you add a pipe to that wrench to effortlessly loosen the bolt?

The funny thing is, you probably know what ‘torque-related’ elements there are in your career or business — but you’re just not using them. They’re sitting in your toolbox, gathering dust.

Let me list some of the elements and their corresponding tools:

• Promotion/More Pay — Deliver faster, better, get other key execs to recognize you. Ask for more work, exposure, or the ability to work on your boss' projects.
• More Clients — 80/20 rule - who are your best clients? Go find out where the 20% live, meet, and congregate. I promise you there will be more of them waiting for your services. Let the underperforming 80% go away (for the time being).
• Efficient Team — Find out what motivates, energizes and leverages their strengths. You won’t believe what they can do once you initiate these levers.
• Technology — You can do it yourself, learn how to do it better, or get someone to do it for you. Guess which one moves you the fastest?

Get where I’m going? Go out and start shifting into 4th/5th/6th gear or find a pipe to turn your wrench. Don’t just stand there and say “I can only move in one gear” or “that bolt will never loosen”.

You have a complete toolbox to choose from. It’s inside you.

What your favorite tool in your toolbox you use to move faster?

How Do You Coach Your Team?

I'm a coach. I've been working with executives and business owners for over 10 years. Prior to that, I managed large teams in Fortune 500 companies throughout the nation. I found early in my career that it was easier to motivate my staff with carrots rather than the stick. Get them to see the big picture, how they are contributing to it, and how together, we can best leverage their strengths and talents.

Today, when I coach clients, I use something I call the "Three P's". They are:

1. Push — I push you. I am there to get you to step out of your comfort zone. To get you to take action. To get you to stop procrastinating on those things you know you need to accomplish. Not a hard shove, but a gentle push.
2. Partner — I partner with you. I am here to brainstorm, help with obstacles, think clearly about opportunities, handle rejection, and help you think factually without all the emotion. I also help people with their blind spots that they might not see.
3. Plan — I help you plan. When you go on a trip, you have a destination and a route. You should have the same process for your career. What do you want to accomplish (what are your goals?) and what steps/activities/tasks do you need to do to get there? Not 20 pages, just one page. Keep it simple and actionable.

That's it.

What kind of techniques do you use that are especially effective to coach your team to do their best?