Coaching for Leaders

Leaders need to be able to speak confidently, clearly, and concisely to others – yet surveys show that at least 10% of the US population fears public speaking more than death. Even if that isn’t true for you, chances are that you might not be as effective or confident as a speaker as you would like to be. In this new series, we’ll look at what you can do as a leader to both speak and present more effectively, and help coach others to do this too. I started off this episode by talking about how I used to HATE public speaking and feared any speech…for days in advance. My trouble started in third grade and followed me well through college. I describe what I did to overcome these challenges and outlined three steps below that I know will be helpful to you as well. 1) Get in front of people! I looked for every opportunity to speak when I went to events I volunteered to help out at work in giving recognition to others You could also reach out to charities and non-profits – all need speakers! I didn’t mention this in the episode, but becoming an instructor for the Red Cross is a great way to start (I did this!) 2) Find someone who will give you positive reinforcement Find a friend, colleague, or mentor that will support you regardless of what happens Join an organization like Toastmasters that will give you tons of position reinforcement 3) Get good coaching Once you’re a bit more comfortable on your feet, get honest coaching for someone you trust Attend a Dale Carnegie course – they are the best of the best on teaching people how to speak and present Start to do some teaching…either volunteer work, in your job, or teaching a class one night a week at a community college Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Janet Riley: David Allen Company We turn our final episode of our training series to what every leader ought to know about sending people to training. Since episode #30, we’ve learned about many aspects of training, so this week we turn our focus to what you should know (and do) when sending people to training. I welcome Janet Riley, a gifted trainer and consultant, to help explore this topic. Janet’s extensive career in the learning and development industry has provided her thousands of hours in experience training leaders around the world, most recently with the David Allen Company. She provides important and practical wisdom for all leaders. Here’s what I asked her: When is training a good way to develop someone? When is training the wrong answer? What are three things leaders can do before training to support people changing behaviors? What are some of the different attitudes people show up with in a training classroom – and how can a leader respond to each of these? What common mistakes do leaders make when trying to support people in training? What can a leader do to support ongoing implementation of what’s been learned after training is complete? What general advice do you have for leaders who use training to develop others? Since this show is about engaging and developing others with coaching, who is a leader that’s been an effective coach for you? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Aaron Kent: Dale Carnegie In the opening of this episode, I mentioned the book Soar With Your Strengths, which I recommend. This week, I welcome a dear friend and business partner as my guest. Aaron Kent is the President & CEO of Dale Carnegie of Southern Los Angeles. I asked Aaron the following questions during our interview: What are some common misconceptions leaders have about training companies? How would a leader know its the right time to consider bringing in an outside resource like Dale Carnegie? What should leaders do to prepare for a first meeting with a company like Dale Carnegie? How does Dale Carnegie approach a first meeting (i.e. what can leaders expect?) In your experience, what do leaders who have great success with training do differently than those who have mediocre success? What’s one thing that leaders don’t do when hiring you that you wish they did? Since this show is about engaging and developing others with coaching, who is a leader that’s been an effective coach for you? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. The term “learning objectives” might not show up in our everyday conversations, but it’s an important tool for leaders to use in order to develop others. In this episode, we’ll explain what a learning objective is, how to create an effective one, and how to use it in order to create results. Instructional design most often starts with creating learning objectives. Most people start-and-finish with topics, but they are not specific enough and can lead to a lack of alignment on expectations. For example, the expectation to “know how to use Microsoft Word”. Most people only use 2% of features of a Word Processor. One person’s idea of “knowing” Word can be quite different than another’s. Another example, “Understand how the economy effects small businesses in the US”. How would I know if someone “understood” that or not? It isn’t about topics! “The critical question, therefore, is not what topics to cover but what you want the participants to value, understand, or do with those topics.” -Silberman, Active Training, p. 41 There types of learning and we should address each of these in learning objectives: Cognitive – what we know Behavioral – what we can do Affective – our motivation our knowledge and behaviors These components of an effective learning objective are from Mager, who wrote six books related to learning that should be on every leader’s bookshelf, called The Six Pack. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. Be sure to align with the organization’s mission, vision, and goals: Requires that you have at least a basic understanding of strategy (long-term planning). There are many approaches to strategy. A good person to know about in the area of creating competitive advantage is Michael Porter. Steps to needs analysis: Determine the problem(s) by finding a key business lever that will make a big impact on the organization if it gets fixed/improved. People pay more attention to fixing problems than they do to making improvements. Affirm that the problem really is the problem (work with stakeholders to see if there is consensus on the key problem(s); engage at all levels of the organization, as there can often be a disconnect between senior management and the line staff who typically engage directly with customers). Develop solutions – training is not always the solution, though people tend to go to it as an “easier” way of addressing deeply rooted cultural issues. Two broad types of evaluation: Formative: satisfaction with the training itself. It is the most common form of evaluation conducted since it is the easiest and least expensive way to assess. Summative: extent to which real change has occurred. This is the least common form of evaluation conducted because it is hardest and most expensive – but most important for determining whether ROI has occurred (Jack Phillips is a good person to read on the subject of training ROI). Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation (Kirkpatrick is considered the “father” of training evaluation): Reaction: people’s reaction to the training; did they like it or not? Learning: what knowledge was gained as a result of the training; what did people learn? Behavior: the extent to which behavior was changed as a result of the training; what’s different now? Results: real and lasting change that occurred as a result of the training; what results have been achieved? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Prepare Estimate how much time you will need in advance – then double it. If you fail to block enough time, either you will sell the person short by rushing, or you will impact other business operations by taking more time than planned. Be realistic with how long things will take. Coach the rest of the team and remind them that access to you when you are conducing on-the-job training will be more limited. Be sure to consider the organizational outcome you want to have come out of the new skill or behavior you are working on. It’s not enough just to get the other party good at actions – they need to understand how these actions fit into the big picture. Demonstrate You’ll want to fully demonstrate what it is that you want the other party to do. Suggest that the other person watch and observer – and perhaps take notes on what it is they see you doing in the skill or behavior. Resist the temptation to explain and train as you go – that will come later. For now, it’s important that they see what the “end result” clearly looks like. Explain Ask the other party what they saw. This is beneficial for them since it reviews the process, and beneficial for you because you have a clearer understanding of what they saw and what they missed. Now, walk through the behavior or skill step-by-step. Once you’ve had a chance to full explain, have dialogue with the other person on where they can first apply this learning. Coach Apply the new skill in a place where they will have the best opportunity to experience success. If possible, avoid situations where their result will be more uncertain. Set expectations with whoever else is involved with the interaction of how you will be involved and what kind of feedback they might observe between the two of you. When coaching, make a clear decision to engage in the moment, direct the person as to what they might be differently, and then praise them for the change. Feedback Afterwards, review the situation in detail. Ask the individual for their assessment of what worked and what didn’t work. Again, this will give you insight as a leader on what they perceive to have worked and what they might have missed. Praise them for accomplishments! If something didn’t work, discuss it now so that they don’t make the same errors in the future. Determine which step to go back to, if needed for more development. Leaders get in trouble when they don’t think through these five steps – and then end up missing big pieces! Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Whether you have access to many training resources or none at all, there is a lot you can do as a leader to train others. In this episode, we’ll examine 5 effective ways you can train the people you lead. 1. Hold a Class This is a great tool when lots of people need to learn something at the same time Ask yourself, “What do I want people walking out of this room doing differently?” Focus on the objectives instead of the logistics 2. On-the-Job Training This is helpful when the learning lends itself to this, there are less resources or time available, or if there is a very small number of people involved A lot of organizations talk about on-the-job training, but few really do it Be clear on what you want the person to learn during an established time period and design for that 3. Role-Playing This is helpful when teaching something that requires a lot of human interaction and thinking on your feet. Your steps: demonstrate – practice – coaching/feedback Try to use a “real-play” if at all possible 4. Online learning Helpful when you need to repeat and scale You can do this yourself if you don’t have the resources of a large organization or outsource it 5. Social Learning Connectivism: Most knowledge exists in the world rather than in the head of any single individual I’m part of a year-long mastermind group Suggesting relationships, bringing in websites, videos, and podcasts to share with those you lead Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Leaders often look to training activities in order to develop people. Training is a wonderful tool for growth, if used correctly. Unfortunately, some very common mistakes are often made. This week, Dave looks at six common mistakes leaders will want to avoid as we being a new series on training others. Six Mistakes Leaders Make Sending People to Training 1. Not willing to participate yourself 2. Using a training class to give feedback 3. Doing nothing to be flexible during training 4. Sending one person to training and having them come back to train everyone else 5. Failing to provide practical application opportunities 6. Going silent Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. Multitasking is talked about lots, but rarely understood. In this week’s episode, Bonni and Dave talk about multitasking, both personally and professionally, and what to keep in mind when leading others. Bonni recommends the book The Myth of Multitasking by Dave Crenshaw as a reference tool for leaders. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

In episode #27, we looked at what we can do in order to coach others to be productive. Now, we’re turning the focus on ourselves as leaders to examine what we might be going to get in the way of people’s productivity. Move to Outcome Based Meetings “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” – Cyril Parkinson Two Warning Signs: You can’t figure out what to talk about. You’re doing a data dump. What would awful thing would happen if we didn’t meet today? Am I clear on what outcomes I want to have come out of this meeting? Move to outcome based meetings vs. schedule based meetings. You should have: Stated outcome Clear agenda Action items Align working environments with people Fortune Magazine says that drop-ins are the #1 productivity killer in offices Be conscious of how and where people like to work Put people on teams? By all means, assuming they work best that way. Otherwise, can people work alone? Every leader should see this: Watch Susan Cain’s TED talk on The Power of Introverts Create a Results-Oriented Work Environment (ROWE) ROWE was created by Cali Ressler & Jody Thompson Get clear on what you want people to accomplish this year Get it on paper and establish milestones Manage people towards that – not when and where they work Lead people on their terms How can I best support you and your development? “Treating people fairly does not mean treating them the same.” Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

We turn our focus to productivity for this first episode of March. Many of the leaders who listen to this show are already productive themselves, but find themselves looking for ways to lead others to be more productive. In this episode, I’ll share some ideas and strategies for helping others find their productive sweet spot. In the traditional paradigm of management, individuals waited for a manager to determine their work for them and assign duties. While organizations still rely on this old paradigm, people are increasingly being asked to step into a leadership role at every level of the organization. Some people are comfortable with this, but many are not ready for the demanding productivity that this requires. If that wasn’t challenging enough, we are now all being overwhelmed with tons more information that we ever were before. Email, instant messages, conference calls, and text messages fill our days. Plus, we are asking everyone to do more with fewer resources. No wonder so many people struggle with productivity. Suggestions on how to coach others for productivity: First, take time to understand what they are currently doing. I like to ask, “How are you making decisions about where to spend your time?” If people don’t know how to answer that question (or the answer doesn’t make sense) then that is the place to start. Next, I want to find out, “What obstacles are getting in your way of being productive?” so we can discuss how they will begin to overcome those obstacles. To the extent possible, I also try to coach people to focus on 3-5 weekly priorities. It’s easy to get bogged down in being reactive to everything. If people walk into a week with a plan for what they will accomplish, they can proactively plan for success and adapt as things change. I like to ask, “What’s most important for you to accomplish this week to move forward on your goals?” I find success when I plan about two thirds of my week and allow the remaining time for unexpected things that come up. I strongly suggest helping people see the benefit of being on one central calendar. Be sure to watch out for people who try to micromanage every minute of their week. They won’t be responsive to others that way and will drive themselves crazy the minute something doesn’t go according to plan. Suggest that people block time for email and turn off all those alerts, icons, and badges that will interrupt them and take them off task. Also, get people using a realistic task list each day, a suggestion from David Allen in Getting Things Done. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

1. Sponsor an employee goal. Most all leaders know of at least one goal that each employee is working on during the year. Now, get beyond the average leader and help employees take action to achieve their goal. While they bear the primary responsibility for their professional development, it’s also your responsibility to help provide resources for them to get there. This might be in the form of funding, but it could also be providing them with an introduction to someone, making space in the workday for their development, allowing them to utilize company resources for their goal, and many other possibilities. Be creative. The best leaders don’t let lack of funds stand in their way – they find a way to ensure that people get development through many opportunities. 2. Know family names. Before you brush this one off as too personal for you, consider this: how do you respond when people in your life take the time to know the names of your family and ask about them in regular conversation? You pay attention and you appreciate it. While nobody would suggest that leaders spend all day asking about people’s families, you should be paying attention to who is important in the life of the person you lead. Those people influence their decisions and values – and when you take the time to ask and to care, people notice. 3. Learn the story of someone you lead. You probably know the stories that you have observed of the people you lead. Perhaps you even know a bit about them from other colleagues and leaders. However, do you really know what brought them to your organization and what keeps them going? Do you know their long-term career goals? Have they shared a significant turning point in their lives with you? If not, you have an opportunity to learn more about their story. When you know their story, you know them – and you create engagement. 4. Recognize someone publicly. People are used to hearing from leaders right away when something is wrong. Things rarely get pointed out when something is right – but it’s just as important that we make time for this. Finding the time to recognize people in front of others builds trusts and shows that we notice the good things as well. Plus, people are a lot more likely to accept constructive feedback later if they know the leader sees the good. For a detailed overview of how to do this effectively and to keep it from sounding like insincere flattery, be sure to revisit the ATTRIBUTE-EXAMPLE-THANK model that I discussed in detail during episode #9. 5. Give constructive feedback. Employees may like you better in the short term when you go easy, but the best leaders know that long-term growth makes constructive feedback a must. Ironically, employees will actually like and respect you more in the long-run if you are someone who is ready to give tough feedback and help them learn and grow. Few leaders do this well and you set yourself apart from many if you can give feedback. Check out the EXPECTATION-EXAMPLE-EMPOWER model in episode #10 for a roadmap on how to give constructive feedback. 6. Talk about your own mistakes. Nobody is immune from mistakes and leaders that attempt to appear perfect to the people they lead earn little respect. We are all human and we want to be lead by humans too. When you see someone you lead making a mistake you once made, share your experiences as well. It helps humanize you as a leader and also gives the employee confidence that they can overcome the obstacle. 7. Reward innovation, even when it fails. The problem with many leaders and asking people to “think outside the box” is that they only really want thinking that leads to immediate success. True creativity is messy and brings failures along the way with the successes. If you don’t acknowledge creativity even in the midst of failure, the next person in your organization will be even less likely to stick their neck out. When it comes to innovation, support people in the process of getting there, not just the result. 8. Tell people why you’re not taking their ideas. Most of us are more concerned that we are heard and respected than we are that every one of our ideas is adopted. Good leaders are always soliciting ideas and feedback from employees. Better leaders do something with the ideas they get. The best leaders also come back to those who contributed ideas and say why they didn’t take some of the advice. Sure, people will be disappointed when their ideas don’t make the cut, but they will know they’ve been heard and that their contributions to the process were respected. 9. Tap into the bigger reason for what your organization does. If you idea of motivating people is talking about the percentage increase in yearly raises or sales numbers, you’re missing the boat. Sure, we all have to hit numbers – but you are kidding yourself if you think that getting a 3.6% raise this year is going to launch your em

Jan Frazee: Southwest Search Dogs Understanding the theory behind engagement is an important first step, but it’s worthless if we don’t also have perspective on how to practically apply engagement in our organizations. This week, I interview Jan Frazee from Southwest Search Dogs. Jan is someone that I’ve come to respect over the years both personally and professionally for her ability to engage volunteers in her organization — and I respect her even more as a parent, since she’s also Bonni’s mom! Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Every leader needs to engage others in order to maximize the potential of the other person and their commitment to the organization. This week, we’re beginning a series on how to engage the people that you lead. This week’s show begins with a quote from Teresa Amabile, author of The Progress Principle. In a recent commentary on Marketplace, she states, “The single most important thing that can keep workers deeply, happily engaged on the job is moving forward on work they care about — even if the progress is an incremental “small win.” Drive by Daniel Pink is an excellent read on how to engage others. In this book, says there are three things that Pink suggests we focus on the engage others: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Autonomy – Do I have the ability to have control over my life and career? Poor leaders say – “This is the way this has to be done.” [My way is best.] Effective leaders say – “What’s the best way for you to reach this objective?” [My way is best for me.] Mastery – Can I become better at something that’s important? Aerospace workers constantly demonstrate their commitment to master something important. WordPress is probably the most popular website platform today and is built by people who get paid little or nothing. It’s not about just the money. Purpose – Does what I am doing matter? I give an example of the custodian at our church – he has purpose in what he does and shows it daily. Do you as leader talk about why what you are doing each day matters? Why do you do it? What’s the reason you or your organization do what you do? If you don’t, you should! Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

This episode puts all the pieces together from our personal leadership series into your annual action plan. I discuss in detail how I’ve used the Creating Your Life Plan ebook from Michael Hyatt to bring value to my life. During his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” See his full talk at this link. A piece of my vision that I had written down last year was: “The Coaching Skills for Leaders podcast and blog generates multiple comments weekly from listeners who have used the show to better their leadership and coaching skills.” The action step behind that was: “Produce a consistent coaching podcast and blog that dramatically increases our audience’s skill level in self-leadership, coaching, and personal productivity.” My Values (see episode #20 for a full overview on how to get clarity on your values) Meaning: Investing my time and talent into things and people that personally inspire me in the world. Sustainability: Putting my effort into things that will provide lasting, positive change in the world. Vision: Creating the future by building things twice. Empowerment: Give others the confidence to learn, grow, and contribute to the world in sustainable ways. Love: My passion and desire to treat people like fellow human beings. Priorities: Faith Health Bonni Baby Learning Career Extended Family Friends Service Finances An example of my vision for children: “I want my children to remember me as a guiding light in their lives who empowered them with love of God, family, learning, discipline, and friendship. I want them to look back at their time as children as a time filled with many life lessons, joy-filled days, and discipline that served them in their lives as adults. I want them to feel like they were empowered to be whoever God created them to be and that their mom and them always came first in my life. I want them to remember that my love helped them become beautiful and whole people, who would then go on to love their own families and spread God’s love in the world.” Current Reality: We don’t have a baby. We will have a baby soon. Neither of us know what the heck we are doing. Specific Commitments: Spend at least one hour daily (outside of care time) that is focused on connecting with our son through cuddling, play, and other ways that he is ready to explore the world. Begin introducing books, reading, and storytelling to him as soon as is practical so that he begins to associate learning and growth with a happy and successful life in this world. Work with Bonni to determine a meaningful name for our little boy. Finish reading “Raising Cain” to establish good practices to support his growth emotionally. Attend as many doctor appointments as possible to continue my education as a father and build a long-term relationship with our pediatrician. Complete reading the American Academy of Pediatrics book section on the first year of life that was recommended by our pediatrician. Step in as the primary care giver at least one day a week so that Bonni has time to rest, even before she returns to work. Determine a guardian for our little boy, should Bonni and I both die when he is young. Another of an action item this year from my career section: Create at least 100 Coaching Skills for Leaders podcast champions by the end of 2012 (people who contact me to say that they’ve gained something from the show or otherwise demonstrate through actions that they are big fans of the show). Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Kirwan Rockefeller: Visualize Confidence Having a powerful vision can mean the difference between mediocrity and clear direction for the future. I welcome special guest Dr. Kirwan Rockefeller, author of Visualize Confidence, in order to help this community create our personal vision. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources Our personality preferences influence every relationship we have, including those where we lead and coach. I welcome special guest and Innovate Learning senior facilitator Susan Gerke to discuss our strengths and blind spots in this episode. Susan and I discussed the spectrum of directing vs. informing language. Here are a few of the resources from Susan: Go Team Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Your core values influence how you view the world and how you interact with others. It’s key that we understand our own core values as part of our series on personal leadership. I read a quote on page 46 of The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Here are the values that I spoke about: Meaning – Investing my time and talent into things and people that personally inspire me in the world. Sustainability – Putting my effort into things that will provide lasting, positive change in the world. Vision – Creating the future by building things twice (once with vision, once in reality). Empowerment – Give others the confidence to learn, grow, and contribute to the world in sustainable ways. Love – My passion and desire to treat people like fellow human beings. Some questions for you to consider as you determine your core values: What is your perfect day? What are you doing when you are in flow and lose track of time? What events are you most proud of in your life? When do you feel most alive? What makes you angry? What are you willing to fight for? I mentioned this document that contains a list of values and may be helpful in determining your core values. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

It’s the new year and an important time to consider ourselves first, so that we can better lead others. This week, I begin a series on personal leadership that will take us through the month of January. Here are a few resources that I mentioned in this episode: The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner Five Practices – Model the Way is the first one Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman HBR Managing Yourself The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey First three habits: private victory Habit #1: Be proactive Between stimulus and response, we have choices we can make Story of Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

As leaders, we need to support learning right after it happens. In this episode, I’ll review fives ways you can do this as a leader. 1) Provide opportunities Find something for them to start to use what they’ve just learned. If you need to, help create opportunities! 2) Review the actions taken Do a debrief afterwards – particularly if something didn’t work well. The sooner it happens, the more likely it is that you’ll reinforce good habits and correct poor ones. Avoid reviewing things weeks or months after they happen. 3) Inquire about what they are thinking, feeling, or noticing I mentioned Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline Fieldbook You won’t hear much at first but over time you’ll hear people say lots of things 4) Correct the flight plan 5) Use encouragement Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Dale Carnegie says “Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise” in How to Win Friends and Influence People. This is a must read for any leader. Also, review episode #9 from this show for a detailed overview on giving encouragement through recognition. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Helping people utilize new skills they are learning is an essential skill for all leaders. In this episode, I’ll examine four ways you can do this as a leader. REFRAME Move people away from just task accomplishment and more towards skill mastery. There’s a difference between having knowledge and being an strong contributor to an organization. Challenge people for practical experience. Challenge them to put what they are learning into action. RECONNECT Engage people during regular development meetings (at least once a month – once a week is ideal). Discouragement and obstacles will happen – we need to provide coaching along the way. Give perspective by using encouragement and also reward progress (not just results). Challenge people to compare themselves with themselves. RENEW Make things new again. You can’t know everyone on January 1st – be ready to add in more, make changes, and adapt Add new challenges and opportunities throughout the year. Avoid people getting into extremes – either overwhelmed or underutilized. Especially watch out for underutilized. Overwhelmed is easy to stop – underutilized is often only recognized after a person decides they are leaving. RETURN Help them determine how they can return value to the organization. What can they do to teach others? What can they do to teach you? What are new responsibilities that connect back to their long-term goals? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Frances, one of our listeners, contacted me this week to say that she has $700 in a “use it or lose it” budget within the next week and wanted some advice on what to do. Since many of these resources would be helpful to all of us, it’s the topic for this week’s show. Two overarching rules to keep in mind before you do anything: Talk to people who are doing the stuff you want to do Have your own professional development plan (I use Michael Hyatt’s life plan that I’ve discussed on prior shows) Books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner How to Win Friends and Influence People (and the new version for the digital age) both by Dale Carnegie The 100 Best Business Books of All Time (link for the printed version) Amazon Prime – $79 a year (2 day shipping, streaming of movies, borrow one book a month for free) Publications The Wall Street Journal ($103 a year for the digital version) Chronicle of Higher Education ($72.50 a year for the digital version) Harvard Business Review ($79 a year) Professional Associations What you get? Local chapter and networking and social learning These are great for resources too – workshops, classes, book lists, seminars Many are $100-$200 annually Professional Journals Leader to Leader Journal ($200/year) Extended Education programs at local universities UCI Education is great for people in Southern California – find a great program near you! Software education Lynda.com ($25 a month or $250 annually) Here’s a link for a free 7-day trial on Lynda.com Massive Open Online Courses Academic Earth is a great clearinghouse for these courses The Great Courses is great for lectures and classes from top professors as well, as long as you’re OK getting lots of catalogs from them Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

This week I was listening to the HBR IdeaCast and a recent interview with Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson about her book: 9 Things Successful People Do Differently*. I’ve also been reading Get Rid of the Performance Review! by Samuel Colbert Examples of actual ineffective goals: “Communicate more effectively” “Develop leadership skills” “Communication skills to be improved (writing) and get your point across more clearing and concisely” “Improve quality and completion of assigned duties” “Begin working outside of their comfort zone towards new opportunities and/or subject areas” SMART Framework S – Specific M – Measurable A – Attainable R – Relevent T – Time-phased Examples of more effective goals, utilizing the SMART framework: Establish procedures with vendors to reduce year-over-year error rates by 20% before June 30th Become a subject matter expert on departmental software use by achieving Microsoft Office Specialist Certification by the end of the year Develop skill in departmental training activities by facilitating one training class in Q1 of 2012 and receive participant satisfaction scores that are 80% or higher Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 2 Four stories from my career of leadership lessons I’ve valued: McDonald’s and the value of humility How I utilize this in daily client interactions now Orientation and the value of excellence I utilize this in teaching and production of this show My first job and the value of consequences Today I utilize this to have courage “Our chief want in life is someone who shall make us do what we can.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson My friend and colleague and the value of love In tough situations, find something to love about the other party Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. What do we mean by a strong culture? Strong culture: consistent throughout the organization and thus has a strong influence on individuals Weak culture: do not have as strong an impact on individuals because of inconsistencies (does not mean it is not effective) In Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein (2004) defines culture as, “…a pattern of SHARED BASIC ASSUMPTIONS that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to PERCEIVE, THINK, and FEEL in relation to those problems” (p. 17). We accidentally referred to Schein’s book in the episode as “Making Sense of the Organization” which is actually a book by Karl Weick and also an excellent read on organizational culture, though the Schein book is an easier read, so we recommend that first. We discuss Schein’s three indicators of culture: Artifacts Espoused beliefs and values Underlying assumptions We also referenced the model below from The Character of a Corporation by Goffee and Jones: Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Courage (n) as defined by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary: Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty Eleanor Roosevelt is famously attributed to having said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” “If you’re the king of your world, you’re playing in the wrong world.” -Unknown 5 Pieces of Advice: 1) Have a mentor – for me, it’s been my wife (and past managers) 2) Educate yourself on the issues – for me, it’s reading and RSS feeds Check out Shelfari.com. Six Ways to Get Smart and Stay Smart 3) Surround yourself with people who will empower you. 4) Have direction – a personal vision Michael Hyatt’s life planning e-book is a great way to start 5) Lean into discomfort Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. You can’t create a shared vision without having your own vision first. It’s inappropriate for us to be dependent on others or independent from them. Rather, we need to have relationships of interdependence. Bonni mentioned a clip from the movie Spartacus which captures the power of interdependence: Two key elements of a shared vision: The people involved have a shared picture of what the future looks like. Everyone is committed to achieving the work and working towards it together. We discussed four steps for leaders to take when creating a shared vision: A few books that we mentioned on this episode: The Fifth Discipline* by Peter Senge The Leadership Challenge* by James Kouzes and Barry Posner We also mentioned Linda Krall, our favorite strategic illustrator Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith warns against the habit of leaders adding too much value and stifling the motivation of an employee’s independent ideas. He says that when we start improving an employee’s idea, “You may have improved the content of my idea by 5 percent, but you’ve reduced my commitment to executing it by 50 percent, because you’ve taken away my ownership of the idea.” Does it even make sense to give someone feedback? Here’s a helpful guide. Minor issue? If the person is aware: ask what they plan to do to resolve it If the person is unaware: let it go Major issue? If the person is aware : ask questions and help brainstorm If the person is unaware – redirect by using EXPECTATION -> EXAMPLE -> EMPOWER Saying something “nice” first can get us in trouble as a leader: It doesn’t sound sincere, since it’s often done only before constructive feedback It’s not credible since the leader will often fail to cite evidence and examples The leader ends up gliding over the real issue and the person never really hears the constructive feedback Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Weddings are an interesting place to watch people give positive feedback to others. I give a few examples. The problem with feedback is that intentions are good, but that sometimes feedback still comes out awkward…sometimes it would have been better if the person said nothing at all. I share a story about someone who heard “good job” just one too many times. Here’s the model you want to use: ATTRIBUTE-EXAMPLE-THANK An example of it in action: “Helen, I appreciate how much diligence you brought to this project. Just two weeks ago, I remember you telling me that one of our vendors was very concerned about being able to make our final deadline. I noticed that you had two conference calls with them and worked late one evening last week to help get them back on track and ensure that both they and our campus looked good in the end. Thank you for putting forth the diligence to bring this project to a very successful close.” You’re done – don’t go further than the above. Who could use feedback from you on a job well done this week? I challenge you to take action both professionally and personally. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. One of the biggest challenges I hear from leaders today is how to coach this new generation of young people entering the workforce. We cite current statistics from the Fall 2011 edition of the Leader to Leader Journal. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Gilbert Fugitt: Concordia University One of the biggest challenges I hear from leaders today is how to coach this new generation of young people entering the workforce. We cite current statistics from the Fall 2011 edition of the Leader to Leader Journal. Gilbert mentioned the book Not Everybody Gets a Trophy by Bruce Tulgan as a resource for leaders. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

I begin the episode by speaking about my first job out of school and revisiting our coaching definition from episode #2. If you want to know what is important to people, look at their calendar and in their checkbook. Why don’t we make time to coach? People don’t know the correct way. Perception that things take too much time. I cited some of Larry Bossidy’s comments and lessons from the book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Coaching takes time. Are you investing time into coaching? Here are four ways to get started: Contract with the other party on development priorities Plan out the schedule of when to meet and what to do – book it Follow-through on your coaching commitments Be flexible and yet consistent You make life easier during review time as well if the above four things are done consistently. Make a commitment this week to do one of these things above. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Here’s the link I promised to the EDS commercial on building a plane in the air. Socrates said, “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” (accidentally attributed to Plato in the audio of the show – apologies!) Let’s look at: leading, managing, training/teaching, mentoring, consulting, counseling, and of course coaching. Leading: Creating environments that achieve a shared vision. Peter Senge describes a shared vision in The Fifth Discipline* The rose windows at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris are a good analogy John F. Kennedy’s shared vision to get us to the moon Managing: Establishing, monitoring, and controlling processes and procedures Communicating clear expectations Follow-up Feedback or consequences My work at SCORE! Educational Centers was an example of management in action Training/Teaching: Transferring information from a knowledgable party to a less knowledgable party Lynda.com is a great example of online training This podcast is also an example Mentoring: Providing advice and perspective from experience Generally this is someone who knows a lot about a process My parents have provided lots of mentoring for me: insurance, home, investments, etc. It’s less about the position and more about what you are communicating Consulting: Making recommendations based on expertise Clients hire Bonni (my wife) for her expertise in eLearning Counseling/Therapy: Helping an individual reframe the past in order to improve the future Don’t do it as a leader Refer people to human resources, employee assistance programs, or a counseling center (at a university) A note about coaching definitions: Coaching is a results-partnership. True, but too general. International Coach Federation says “Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Also true, but too general…and why only with clients? PCMA says, “The field of coaching is growing quickly, and is continually redefining and refining itself in the process. Even coaching and consulting experts do not always agree on precise meanings and applications.” Certainly true! Kampa-Kokesch and Anderson (2001) review research and detail a process for coaching. Coaching: Developing a person through the process of rapport, assessment, feedback, planning, implementation, and evaluation Rapport – Build the relationship and trust – FROM (see episode #2) Assessment – Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice – use observation, assessments, questioning Feedback – Data points for people to understand Planning – Make a flight plan Implementation – Work the plan Evaluation – How did we do? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

A brief overview of how teaching fits into coaching. We’re going to examine a few lessons from The Adult Learner* by Malcolm Knowles. Pedagogy vs. Andragogy (art of teaching kids vs. self concept of being responsible for ourselves) (Greek: child-leading, man-leading). You can’t teach adults the way you teach kids. Why talk about kids? As coaches, there’s the tendency to fall back on what we’ve seen all our lives and what we remember from school – unfortunately, those same skills don’t work with adults. 6 assumptions about andragogy: The Need to Know (adults need to know why something is important before learning it) The leaner’s self concept (they want to be responsible for the progression of their own lives). The role of learner’s experiences (adults have a lot more of them) Readiness to learn (adults need timing that corresponds with developmental tasks) Orientation to learning (adults will learn to support what they think will help them in real-life tasks) Motivation (adults want job satisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life) Book recommendation: Drive* by Daniel Pink Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Matt Ross: Liberty Mutual How did things go with the listening assessment from the first episode? If you missed it, download the PDF here. How to start coaching someone: This is a huge missed opportunity for a lot of leaders. Leaders start teaching a new skill, and that’s it…before getting to know someone and without connecting it to the other person’s goals/desires. The model for how to start coaching someone: F – Future R – Reality O – Obstacles M – Meaning What to listen for in the interview with Matt Ross: 1) FROM model 2) This shouldn’t be an interrogation…you can jump around 3) The importance of silence Interview with Matt Ross Contact Matt Ross at this link What I would do if I was Matt’s manager? I’d want to talk in terms of how the tasks he’s working on connect with his goals. If those opportunities weren’t there, I’d do my best to create those opportunities for Matt. This doesn’t take long…the entire interview was 14 minutes and could have been shorter. Three reasons leaders skip doing this: They don’t know they should do it (but hopefully you see how helpful this can be) They don’t know how to do it (but now you do!) It takes too long (not really, per our example) And a final reason right now, they don’t have to do it because of the economy. However, at some point better times for employees are coming and those that aren’t led well will move on. In 2010, Harvard Business Review reported on statistics for high potential employees. They reported that: 1 in 3 high potential employees admit to not putting all their effort into their job 1 in 4 believes they will be working for another employer in a year Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Welcome to the first episode of Coaching for Leaders. Why I’m starting this show: A bit of background about me How my doctoral dissertation got me thinking about the importance for leaders to focus on themselves One thing I’ve learned for sure: leaders can make a big difference in the lives of others if they take a little time to make a difference in themselves Why I care about this Lots of resources coming – articles/blogs/Q&A/guests/authors/books/my own perspective Powerful Listening Audio exercise – part 1 What did you hear? It sounds a lot like a lot of our work lives. Audio exercise – part 2 Four Listening Levels: Pretend Partial Present Powerful You can’t listen powerfully all the time – but you need to at least some of the time. Good listening is important work for a leader…just an important (if not more so) than “normal work” Download the Listening Skills Assessment Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.