Life Strategy – What Really Matters?

As you worked your way up the ranks of the corporate world, have you ever been told that you need to develop the skill of strategic thinking?  Many of my coaching clients have been told that by their boss.  The big question was always, “What does that mean and how do I do it? 

For people moving up the corporate ladder, it is often helpful to look at a comparison of Strategic Thinking and Tactical Thinking.  This helps them to see where they are and where they may want to go to be more “strategic” in their thinking.

Strategic Thinking                                     Tactical Thinking

Big Picture                                                    Little Picture or details

Broad Focus                                                 Immediate Focus

Goal Orientated                                            Task Oriented

Long Term                                                     Short Term

How to get there                                           What to do

With examples and discussion of these contrasts, people began to see the difference and what they could do in their work to become more strategic in their thinking and “doing”. 

What about using strategic thinking in your life? 

It’s actually pretty simple to do if you step back and look at it. When faced with a challenge or opportunity, look at the “Big Picture” of strategic thinking and ask, “What Really Matters in this situation?”  Then go deeper, “What’s important?”  “What do I really want?”  It’s helpful to go deeper, “peel the onion”, and keep asking the questions to the answers that first come out because often the true reason why you want to do something is not the reason that first pops up.  Understanding your true motivation and what really matters to you is what keeps you focused and moving forward to achieve what you want. 

So the next time you are challenged or struggling with something, ask yourself, “What really matters in this situation?”  Then write it down somewhere you can easily see it.  When you start to worry, get side tracked or lost in the details, look at the note to remind you of what really matters to you about the situation.  Keep focused on the Big Picture and you’ll be amazed how things begin to fall in place!

Leadership Strategy – Influencing Teams

Have you ever been on a team where people don’t get along and not much gets done? People begin to wonder, “Why bother?”  Morale and results go down, down, down.  Unfortunately, this happens all too often.  

Successful companies have teams of enthusiastic, optimistic, appreciative and happy people who work together on behalf of a future they have all committed themselves to.

When leading teams, what can you do to have a team that is motivated, happy, appreciative and productive?  

Here are some coaching tips for influencing teams:

Have a common vision.  We’ve talked before about the importance of a clearly articulated company vision.  It’s also important that each “team” have a common vision around what the team is to accomplish.  As a leader, get clarity on the front end what’s wanted on the back end. Help the team say focused on the big picture and how their “parts” fit in.

Create a team culture of “WE”. While individuals often do the “work”, it’s important for the team to think as a “WE” as team member and as part of the company, vs. everyone out for themselves.  Encourage the team to think and brainstorm possibilities for win/win solutions for team, company and clients.

Be clear and specific in your communications.  Get to the point, give headlines or key points and sub points, vs long convoluted stories. Stay focused.

Listen, really listen to others.

Be aware and flexible.  Vary your influence style to meet the needs of others or fit the situation.  Know your audience.  Look for points of agreement.

Be assertive, vs aggressive.  Strong leaders often need to take a stand and/or say things that are difficult to deliver or for others to hear.  Being assertive combines clear and direct communication with unconditional positive regard and concern for others.  Aggressive people speak up but without concern for others.  This limits team input and influence.  Where appropriate, be inclusive of others opinions.

Smile and have fun!  It’s contagious.

Forgive everyone for everything, including yourself!

One of the distinctions I created when I developed my new Roadmap to Success program that was a real eye opener for many was the importance of forgiveness. By the way, if you haven’t yet seen the preview of the new video program, please click on this link: http://www.unshackledleadership.com/free-success-video. Why is forgiveness so important if you want to be successful? Because it’s simply not possible to be truly successful if you’re carrying around any amount of anger or disappointment directed to another. Because this is so critical and important, I am here posting an article I wrote earlier in the year. The advice is as good today as it was when I first gave it to you.

Forgive everyone for everything, including yourself!

This is a tough one for most people, hopefully not you. But if this is an area you struggle with, consider the following: There is a forgiveness project at Stanford University. The results are disturbing but not surprising. People don’t want to forgive. They actually cherish their negativity. Kindness and being a nice human being doesn’t sell very well. People feel entitled to create enemies and somehow justify their right to do that. And people use their wounding to justify wounding others.

In my own life, my grandfather was a pretty tough guy. What motivated him I do not know. But what I do know is that when his son, my dad, turned 15, he told him that from that day on he was on his own and couldn’t expect anything further from him. So my dad quit school and went to work in the family plumbing business where he worked for the next 50 years. I’m clear he resented his father for that and never forgave him. So you would think he would never do that to his son. Right?

Guess again. When I turned 15 he tried to do the same with me. But I was a bit smarter because I saw it coming and was determined not to let him get away with it. Fortunately, my mother came to the rescue and that was the end of that. But I remember that like it was yesterday because it so demonstrates my point.

People just don’t look at life carefully enough and see the consequences of who they’re being. Here’s the reality: your grievances mean nothing. Do you think anyone cares about them except you? And how do you think the ugliness that might come out of your mouth reflects on you to others? Whenever I hear anyone I know bad mouthing someone else, I always ask myself what they might be saying about me behind my back!

Bottom line: do you want to be right or happy? People all too often think they get to be happy by being right. It doesn’t work that way. Those two choices are mutually exclusive. So forgiveness means you give up your need to be right in favor of happiness.

And consider that resentment and anger has a huge impact on your nervous system. Chronic unforgiveness causes stress. Every time people think of their transgressor, their body responds. Blood pressure and heart rate go up. Facial muscles tense and stress hormones kick in. Chronic stress affects the immune and cardiovascular systems. Forgiveness reduces stress by replacing negative emotions with positive ones.

Finally, when we get angry, the blood is drained from the frontal cortex of the brain and we can’t even think straight. Just think about the last time you got angry. Don’t you remember how confused you were and couldn’t even think about what to say or do?

Not forgiving is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. So give yourself a gift: forgive everyone for everything, including yourself! Doing so will surely put you ahead on the road to success. 

Leadership Strategy - The Power of WHY

Are you looking for a way to inspire yourself and others?  Whether you’re leading yourself, a team or a whole company, being able to inspire and motivate is a key to success. 

Recently, I heard someone give a talk on High-Impact Goals as a tool for creating meaningful success.  A key point she made was that to be successful, you need to be clear on the WHY of your vision and your goals.  This is where your passion comes in.  WHY is what you want to do important – to you, to your company, to society?  What is your driving purpose, your cause, your belief?  What gives you passion?  WHY do you get out of bed every morning?  WHY does your company exist?  Put passion in your actions with WHY.

Starting with WHY inspires rather than manipulates.  Great leaders are able to inspire people to act.  Giving them a sense of purpose makes others want to follow willingly.  Pulling together a team of like minded people and giving them a cause to pursue ensures a greater sense of teamwork and camaraderie.  People are more likely to work hard when they trust their boss has their best interest and feel like they’re working for something bigger than themselves.

Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, is a great resource to understanding the role WHY plays in being influential and successful in all sizes and types of businesses.   It can also apply to your personal life.  You can get a good overview by checking out his TED Talk. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html?source=facebook#.UVH8NDPkwCI.facebook

Figuring out your WHY can be challenging for some.  Sinek’s book has some great examples that will help you understand this concept and where the HOW and WHAT fit into the picture.  Once you have your WHY, you need to know HOW to do WHAT.  A good balance is important.  Understanding your WHY is also important in creating your brand and marketing. 

Discover and use your WHY.  It’s a powerful tool for inspiring and leading your team.

BRINGING PEOPLE ALONG

Have you ever had to lead a team or a special project and it felt like you were pulling teeth?  It just wasn’t coming together, people were resisting and unproductive.  You kept wondering: what’s going on here?

Some of the biggest complaints we hear from people when we go into companies to see what’s going on is, “They don’t ask me my opinion.”  “I don’t know what’s going on.” “Some of the things ‘they’ decide make no sense to me, but do you think ‘they ask me how I feel?”  If your team feels this way, no wonder your project is moving like a car with the brakes on.  They don’t feel included, honored or respected as part of the team.

Whether you are leading a project or just wanting to change some protocols or procedures, bringing people along can be a challenge. 

In Unshackled Leadership, Scott Hunter talks about partnership relationships, a new way of being related.  (Chapter 18)  Operating with others as partners in a nurturing and caring way leads to more satisfactory relationships, successful projects and a more successful, enduring business.  Failure to nurture relationships causes the breakup of countless companies every year.  Scott lists 10 elements that must be included in a true partnership relationship in business.  These are critical to bringing people along.  These are:

1. A Shared Vision
2. Inclusion
3. Trust
4. Listening to Each Other
5. Respect for Each Other
6. Open and Honest Communication
7. Compassion for Each Other’s Feelings
8. No Competition
9. No Righteousness
10. Embracing Differences

If you are struggling with bringing people along, at work or at home, I encourage you to get a copy of Unshackled Leadership and read his chapter.  See which of these elements you already do and which ones you need to work on.  Then get to work.

The example I shared above shows what happens when you do not have “Inclusion”.  Many leaders operate as if they are on an island, making plans and decisions that affect others without getting anyone’s input.  They think getting opinions or building consensus will take too much time. In the long run, it will save time as you won’t have to deal with people’s upsets for not being included or having your plans sabotaged by people feeling left out, unappreciated or just plan confused.

If you don’t already have a copy of Unshackled Leadership by Scott Hunter, go to www.UnshackledLeadership.com to order one.  If you already have a copy, read this chapter and you’ll be bringing people along in no time!