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Best Practices Economics Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development Women In Business

Conscious Capitalism…Is It Possible?

Headline Speaker | Independent Leadership Advisor to the UN | Expert to 150 C-Suite Advisors | Inc Mag Top100 Speaker

After a presidential year, where candidates get to speak about what they stand for it’s become clear that the people are sick and tired of politics as usual. I think you’d agree that there is a flagrant mistrust of those in power. Much of that mistrust comes out of the belief that those in power don’t care about the other 99%.

The system at the very least seems to have been perverted. In my conversations with other leaders we often speak about whether the system can recover and be repaired, or do we need a brand new system.

Expansive Question:

As leaders we are all aware that there is a clear backlash on the “1%”… Without debating whether that is right or wrong, just or unjust…

The question I would like to put forward to you is this: Do you believe that we could now choose to lead from a place of “Conscious Capitalism”? If so, (or not) what would that look like to you, specifically in the context of leadership?

I trust that you found this question valuable, if so, feel free to send this to your friends. I eagerly anticipate your feedback and comments.

Please share, like and comment below!

I created the Authentic Leadership Matrix after a lot of experience and research. One of the questions I’m asked often is what authentic leadership is and how do we define it. As a result, I created the matrix. It splits what leadership is into five separate categories. So, that you can take a clear look at how you perform in each of the five main areas that are required for you to become a world class authentic leader. The process takes you through each category simply with yes or no questions.http://matrix.fullmontyleadership.com/

With gratitude, Dõv Baron

I also write for Entrepreneur.com:

● Is There Life After Success(ion)?

● Why 47 Percent of Your Best People Are Ready to Leave — and What You Can Do About It

● The 11 Questions Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Ask Themselves

● Why Being a Self-Aware Leader Is Not Enough
● Unlocking ‘the 4 Cs’ to Create a Fiercely Loyal Corporate Culture

“In 2015, Dov Baron was cited by Inc Magazine as one of the Top 100 Leadership Speaker to book for your next conference! He speaks internationally and is The Leading Authority on Next-Gen Authentic Leadership and creating a Culture of Fiercely Loyal Leaders. FullMontyLeadership.com

Dov on Twitter | Dov on Facebook | Dov on Youtube

P.S. To get your hands on Dov Baron’s new book “Fiercely Loyal” How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent, go take a look here http://fiercelyloyalbook.com and get your FREE: How to instantly bond any team infographic”

To contact: Dov Baron International, and Authentic Paragon Alliance INC. Contact Authentic Paragon Alliance at +1 778 397 7717 http://FullMontyLeadership.com

Categories
Growth Leadership Skills

The Time Management Myth

 

When was the last time you said “I don’t have time” following a request by someone at work or at home? I don’t have time to exercise, I don’t have time for that project, I don’t have time to volunteer, I don’t have time to cook, I don’t have time to….fill in the blank.

Since everyone has the same 24 hours in the day, how is it that some people have time to do a lot while others don’t have time to do much of anything other than eat, sleep, shower, go to work, and maybe watch the News or some TV?

For those of you who have figured out how to get more done in those 24 hours I congratulate you. For everyone else I say that’s okay because you have been told there is such a thing as time management, but there isn’t. Time cannot be managed, but your priorities and your focus can be managed. So I am going to briefly let you off the hook since Time Management is a myth, but I am also going to say that if you don’t plan to look at this differently from now on, it’s on you.

Let’s start looking at those 24 hours that you have as a math problem. Don’t worry, it won’t be complicated; math is not my strong suit. Let’s start by assuming you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night. If you are not, that is one area to think about making a priority. If you look at studies on success you will find that the most successful people don’t compromise in this department.

OK so that is 24 hours minus 7 (we are going with 7), which equals 17 hours. Let’s assume a 1-hour commute round trip each day. Now we are down to 16 hours and we are going to assume a 10-hour workday (adjust the hours worked and your commute accordingly.) After those basics you have a whole 6 hours left.

You need to eat and shower, you need to groom and do other sorts of activities just to be able to sustain life. So let’s take another 2 hours off the clock for those activities. Down to 4 hours a day to do with as you wish. Oh wait, that may not be true, that would only be true if you have no extracurricular activities and no other responsibilities. So if you are lucky you have 4 hours, for everyone else let’s take it down to 2 hours. That’s 2 hours of what I will call “free” time. Even if you only have 2 hours left you can do a lot with that time if you focus on your priorities.

What you choose to do with that time is going to directly correlate to your overall success in life. Your health and your wealth will be improved or diminished in the choices you make around these “free” hours. You can choose to exercise for 30 minutes to an hour, you can choose to read or educate yourself, take an online class or go to a classroom, you can choose to write, meditate, visit with friends, join a social group, you can volunteer. Or you can sit on the couch and watch TV, surf the web, check out what everyone else is doing on Facebook and say I don’t have time when someone asks you to do something.

It’s not about having time; it’s about having priorities. I have learned and truly believe that if you have more than three priorities you have none. This makes sense since a priority by definition is a thing that is regarded as more important than something else. You can’t have a whole bunch of things that are the most important or of the same importance because, when that happens, nothing is really important at all, it all has the same value, meaning that none of it is a priority. This is the same for work priorities, you should only have three and the rest can be delegated or outsourced.

So this is where we remove time management and look at priority management. It’s time to pick your priorities (no more than three). Then when someone asks you to do something, it isn’t about not having time; it is about “that’s not my priority right now.”

When you say “I don’t have time” you are really saying that is not your priority right now. “I don’t have time to work out” translates to “it is not my priority to work out.” “I don’t have time to read or go back to school” really means, “reading and learning is not my priority right now.” If you are using those “free” hours a day on what you determine are your priorities, it’s perfectly fine to say “no” to other things that don’t fall into those categories. If they become priorities, then you will find time for them by removing other less important activities and reprioritizing what you are working on.

Now it’s time for a gut check – Think about the last time you said “I don’t have time”, what is the current priority taking the lead in that moment? Or the next time you say “I don’t have time,” what is the current priority taking the lead in the moment.

Did watching TV become the priority? Do you know that on average Americans watch 5 hours of TV per day: an hour using the Internet on a computer, an hour and seven minutes on a smartphone and two hours, 46 minutes listening to the radio? I assume the radio bit is in the car, but think about what would be possible if instead of listening to the radio (or satellite or iPod) in the car you listened to an audiobook or a personal development podcast? That is one heck of a way to use that dead time commuting to do something positive, and you still have those remaining “free” hours a day doing other important stuff while getting in your education and personal development.

All I’m asking you to do is challenge yourself next time you realize you’re about to say those four little words “I Don’t Have Time.” Challenge yourself to instead say, “That is not my priority right now. My priority is, (fill in the blank).” Then really think about the answer; is that really your priority? Is it a priority that will add value to your life, the lives of others, or add wealth and prosperity to your life? Is it a priority you can be proud of? One that you would gladly tell everyone you are working on? Or is it less of a priority and more of a bad habit that you have formed over a period of time?

Don’t let the “I don’t have time” excuse become a natural response. Use it to evaluate what it is you are doing and how those activities are serving you or not serving you.

Will you be better one year, three years, and five years down the road based on your current priorities? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s time to make a change and reevaluate those priorities.

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Paying More for Dysfunction


Pay-for-performance incentives don’t work. In fact, they make things worse.

I used to go to Jiffy Lube whenever I need a quick oil change. I like taking care of my car so I get the oil changed exactly on time as best as I can.

One day I was there and the manager came to me. He said, ‘Dr. Hauck, you need a new PCV valve.’ I said, ‘What is that?’ He explained that’s an item that helps with emissions and I really need to replace it. I said, ‘Well wait a minute. I just had the car at the dealer and they inspect everything. Are you sure I need that?’ He said, ‘Oh absolutely; look how dirty this one is.’ And he rubbed his thumb across it and showed me his thumb and it was covered with a black smudge. I said, ‘Ok, how much is it?’ ‘$15’. I said, ‘Ok, fine put it in.’

I am at the cash register and my car is ready. I handed him my credit card and I look above the cash register on the wall and it said goals for the week. It read, oil changes – so many; air filters – so many; PCV valves – so many. I said to the manager, ‘Wow, that’s interesting, the goals for the week. Where do you get those?’ He said, ‘We get them from the home office; they fax them down to us every week on Monday and we work to meet them between Monday through Saturday.’ I said, ‘Interesting. Do you get paid a bonus on those?’ He said, ‘Oh, absolutely, I get a bonus and the guys out in the shop get a bonus too.’ I said, ‘Really, interesting. How are you doing?’ He said, ‘You know, not too bad. We are a little behind on PCV valves, but we’re catching up.’

Pay-for-performance can create an environment that generates unintended consequences. The pressure to perform created by the monetary incentive to meet the goals set by the Jiffy Lube home office created dysfunction. In addition, the knowledge that his performance appraisal rating could suffer without meeting the goals added to the pressure. This pressure created an environment that caused the manager and employees to focus on themselves and not on the customer needs. These two policies create expensive dysfunction. We see this dysfunction repeatedly in organizations. Another example includes the incentives that caused Fanny Mae, and Freddy Mack to encourage mortgages to be approved for people who could not afford the payments over the long–term. This dysfunction led to the collapse of the trust of the entire financial system in 2008.

The Interior Department’s Mineral Management Service had planned to present two safety awards at a luncheon just days before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank to the bottom of the Gulf starting the largest oil spill in US history. The nominee for the safety awards was non-other than BP — which operated the oil rig that sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

The awards ceremony was supposed to recognize “outstanding safety and pollution prevention performance by the offshore oil and gas industry.” The big winner of the 2009 SAFE award was Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded last month under BP’s management. BP was also a finalist at the 2009 conference.

In 2017 Volkswagen senior leadership admitted that 11 million vehicles had been equipped with software used to cheat on emissions tests. The software would detect when the car was being tested and would change settings automatically to reduce emissions. VW set aside $20 billion to deal with the aftermath.

Also in 2016-2017, Wells Fargo fired thousands of employees for improper sales practices. Senior leadership at the bank offered bonuses for sales goals and threaten dismissal if the goals were consistently missed.

Instead of relying on these control techniques of pay-for-performance and the performance appraisal (or awards based on competition) an organization could instead study its system and uncover innovative ways to improve performance. Those who rely on pay-for-performance and the performance appraisal embrace the belief that people would do nothing without incentives or threats. Unreasonable goals will create opportunities for cheating or exaggeration as with Jiffy Lube. Easy goals create de-motivation. Either way we are paying more for more dysfunction. Why not just work as a team to continuously improve? Furthermore, why not embrace the belief that people are willing and able to make improvements and innovate without threats or bribes.

Be careful with pay-for-performance measures performance appraisal policies. They often do nothing to create improvement and often combine to create worse results than if you had done nothing.

Paying for Dysfunction Video

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal. Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP. Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

The Stage Presence in Executive Presence

As a CEO or other top-ranking executive, you know that a winning leadership “presence” can enhance your professional image and help you achieve the goals that are meaningful to you. It also helps others view you as an authority, problem-solver, and “go-to” person.

“Executive Presence” is much like stage presence, charisma, and star quality. These words mean virtually the same thing: a personal magnetism that makes it impossible for people to take their eyes off you.

Many years ago, when Dick Cavett interviewed Katherine Hepburn on his popular TV show, he asked her, “What is star quality?” Hepburn replied, “I have no idea – but whatever it is, I’ve GOT it!”

The word “charisma” may be the oldest synonym for “star quality”. The Greeks used the word to mean “favor”. Charis was an attendant to Aphrodite, the goddess of love; “Charis” meant beauty and kindness. The word can be found repeatedly in the New Testament and is translated as “grace”. “Charismata” is the word used to refer to gifts from God: knowledge, healing, working miracles, prophecy; qualities that bring benefit to others.

In his August, 2011 article in The New York Times, Zachary Woolfe mentions the perspective offered by Ernest Hemingway:

“In his obsession with the Spanish bullfights, he spoke of the lust of the crowd and its desire to feel something special, a raw authenticity… What he mentions is the hush that would come over the crowd at the entrance of the toreadors. The people could sense the difference between those who did it for the fame, the paycheck, and those who had the old spirit. The crowd can sense the one with the authentic message, the connection to the truth.”

The sociologist, Max Weber, provided some insight with his contemporary use of the word “charisma” to describe a key quality of leadership. He wrote the following:

“Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or specifically exceptional powers. These qualities are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.”

As a business person, you may not need the charisma and star quality of Katherine Hepburn, a bull fighter, or a “divine one”, but you can still cultivate a personal magnetism that will help you achieve your professional goals. Here are characteristics of Executive Presence that you can cultivate for success:

Candor: The appearance of honesty, through the willingness and skill to constructively tell it like it is.

Clarity: The ability to tell your story in an intuitively clear and compelling way.

Openness: The appearance of not prejudging, of being willing to consider another’s point of view.

Passion: The expression of commitment, motivation, and drive that shows people you really believe in what you do.

Poise: The look of sophistication, conveying a background of education and experience.

Self-confidence: The air of assurance, such that others know you have the required strength and resolve.

Sincerity: The conviction of believing in and meaning what you say.

Thoughtfulness: The projection of thinking or having thought through something before responding.

Warmth: The appearance of being accessible to others and of being interested in them.

Each of the characteristics listed above is revealed through your physical presence/body language, as well as your verbal/vocal presence.

Gestures can add warmth and personality to a conversation or presentation and help illustrate a point. If your own personal style includes only small or very few gestures, remember to at least nod your head appropriately. This is an easy way to show that you are listening to, understanding, and connecting with your conversation partners.

Eye Contact occurs when two people look at each other’s eyes at the same time. In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. In the United States, eye contact is often interpreted as a meaningful and important sign of confidence, respect, engagement, and even honesty.

Facial Expression: Smiling is one facial expression that is likely to put other people at ease and help them feel accepted and comfortable. You exude happiness and encouragement when you smile, so try to add it to more of your conversations. Scowling, chewing your lip and raising your eyebrows can all signal different meanings, so it is important to be aware of how your face looks during a conversation. When you speak for business and your topic is not a happy one, remember that you actually do have something to smile about: the fact that your listeners will benefit in some way from understanding the message you are bringing them.

Movement: We use body movement and proximity to send information on attitude toward a person (facing or leaning towards another), and desire to control the environment (moving towards or away from a person). Be aware of how your body movement sends messages. The physical distance between you and others signals your level of intimacy and comfort and is interpreted differently in different cultures.

Posture: “Body orientation” (the way you hold your body) sends strong messages to others. Remember that your posture is revealing and may ‘give you away” at any moment. Letting your body relax appropriately in a given situation (having fluid, smooth movements and facing your conversation partner, etc.) indicates confidence, poise, and engagement.

Appearance: This refers to everything you were not born wearing: all the choices we make in clothing, accessories, hairstyle, and makeup. The choices for a presentation range widely. A good rule of thumb is to dress “one step above” your listeners. See what highly-regarded people in your workplace are wearing during their presentations and emulate them – and/or ask someone in authority.

Speaking Pace (the speed at which you speak): Increase and decrease your pace strategically. A monotone is boring, and so is monopace; it can lull people to sleep! Pace also includes dramatic pauses to communicate many things, including to (1) emphasize a point, (2) give people a moment to think, and (3) surprise your listeners to deepen their level of engagement.

Speaking Pitch (the high and low tones of the speaking voice, altered with jumps and glides): Pitch can be used to convey energy, warmth, and sincerity. In American business, finishing a statement with a downward glide sounds certain and authoritative; ending with an upward glide communicates a yes/no question or uncertainty. To sound confident and authoritative, always end your statements with a pitch glide downward.

Vocal Projection (the energy and commitment in your voice, including volume): Emphasizing certain words by being louder or softer can add to the impact of what you are communicating. It’s important to project you voice so that everyone can hear clearly what you’re saying. Even if your volume bec
omes soft for dramatic effect, your energy level and commitment must successfully project your meaning and your passion.

Cultivate these qualities, and you won’t have to worry about stage presence, charisma, or star quality. You will possess a winning executive presence and enhanced power to influence and persuade your business listeners

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

Be The Speaker You Want To Listen To

Do You Really Know Your Audience?

 

One rule of thumb that applies to almost every aspect of life is that just because something is simple, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily easy.

 

When I was faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for a decade or so, teaching in a master’s program for educators, one of the rules of thumb I constantly reiterated was, “be the teacher you wish you’d had.”

 

That seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Yet so many of my students seemed to find it surprisingly difficult to apply in practice.

 

We can all recall boring lectures given by teachers and professors who seemed to be burnt out after years of teaching the same content day in and day out. For many, sadly, this seemed to be the rule rather than the exception.

 

But we can also recall those instructors who stood out, who made their subjects come to life, and lit a fire of curiosity and genuine interest in us that we never would have imagined possible in that subject.

 

This dichotomy is no different from what happens in corporate life.

 

When speaking to a group, whether in front of a camera, on stage or in the conference room, the seemingly simple rule of thumb is: be the speaker you’d actually want to listen to.

 

So why is it so difficult?

 

Whether professor or executive, it’s unlikely that most speakers aspire to be boring. Nobody actually wants to be remembered as the worst example of anything. But somewhere along the way, something gets lost in translation.

 

When you give a speech or presentation, facilitate a meeting, or even have a one-to-one conversation, what impression do you leave? Do you project confidence, approachability, authority, leadership, enthusiasm, and overall positive energy?

 

But what if you were sitting in the audience? Put yourself in their shoes (or seat, as the case may be.) What kind of speaker would you want to listen to? You’d probably use words like “inspiring,” “passionate,” “open” or “relatable.”

 

But in the vast majority of the meetings I’ve sat through, presentations I’ve seen and talks I’ve attended, the speaker comes across as under- or over-emotional, intense and unapproachable or bored (and boring), or like they’re just going through the motions to get the discussion over with and go back to whatever they’d rather be doing.

 

So what happens that creates such a gap between how you come across when you speak and how you want to come across?

 

First and foremost, you forgot the rule of thumb: to be the kind of speaker you’d want to listen to if you were in their seat.

 

Here’s video #1 from my mini-video series, “Capturing your Confidence on Camera,” with tips on how to connect with your audience:

 

It gives you ideas for how to frame your content and your delivery in a way that will help you connect with the audience.

 

Because when people walk into the room, subconsciously they are hoping you will answer one single question: “What’s in it for me?”

 

You can’t just run through your material with the sole purpose of checking off all the topics you think you need to cover. While this is the default approach most people take, that makes it all about you, and it comes across like a laundry list.

 

You have to think about who is in the audience, what matters to them, and what would make them leave feeling like their time spent with you was the best possible investment of their time, when there are so many other competing priorities.

 

Then, you not only need to consider the value of the content from their perspective, which gives people a reason to listen, you have to be mindful of how you deliver that information.

 

That’s where the experience shifts from one where your audience appreciates your content, to one in which your audience connects with you.

 

And that’s where the magic begins.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Cheers to Remembering Your Customers’ Names!

 

Do you remember the sitcom Cheers? It was a popular television show that started in 1982 and ran for over ten years. If you remember the show, you probably also remember the theme song “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” which was also the theme of the entire show.

Now, I’ll bet you don’t resemble the character Norm, the accountant who loved beer, nor Cliff, the postman who knew everything, on the show. Neither do I! But a few weeks ago I frequented one of my favorite places, First Watch. On that particular day I wasn’t all that hungry so I ordered just a single pancake. Typically, when I add a pancake to my meal, the server charges me a dollar. But this time, when the server left the check on the table I noticed he had charged me five dollars – for a single pancake!

I was stupefied by the bill, so I asked about the high-priced pancake. I then learned there was as difference between adding a pancake and ordering just one for breakfast. Not only did the reason make sense, the server was very nice about it, so I was happy to accept the reason. The server then jokingly told me the next time I came in he was going to serve me a pancake for just a dollar. I laughed, thanked him and left him a nice tip for his great service and outstanding attitude.

Two weeks later we went back to First Watch for breakfast. That day we had a different server. (Sometimes on Cheers, Carla was your server, other times it was Diane.) I ordered my usual big breakfast. Surprisingly, a few minutes later the server came back with my plate. On it was – a single pancake! She said that the pancake was compliments of Tomas, the gentleman who took care of us the last time we were in for breakfast. I looked over and he gave me a wave and a smile.

I was impressed. First, you should know why I like First Watch. While the bar Cheers may have had great beverages and great service, First Watch consistently has great food and great service. The servers are always friendly. Nobody is perfect, but First Watch comes as close to perfection as you can get. That’s why I’ve been a consistent customer of theirs since they first opened their stores in St. Louis more than a dozen years ago. I always know exactly what I’m going to get.

But, now I have yet another reason. Like Cheers, First Watch remembers me. Actually, they didn’t remember; Tomas remembered me. But to me, Tomas represents the restaurant and all of the other employees. Tomas is the face of the entire organization.

The ability to remember your customers is huge. Why? Here are four good reasons.

  1. It makes your customers feel special. Who doesn’t like to be remembered and appreciated? On Cheers, Norm and Cliff were so remembered and appreciated, everyone else was careful not to occupy their chairs. 
  2. It makes the customer experience personal. I was remembered, but more importantly, I was given a special experience based on Tomas remembering the pancake. 
  3. It creates a connection with your customers. People like being around people they feel they know. The first step is to recognize and remember someone. 
  4. It increases the likelihood of a return visit. How often do you think that Norm or Cliff frequented the bar down the street? Or any other bar in the neighborhood, for that matter? Probably never. People like going to – and like going back to – places where they are remembered. It’s simply a big part of good customer service. 

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

 

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development Technology

Are You Media-Ready?

Nowadays, it’s not enough to be really smart, to be the boss, or to have brilliant ideas. It’s all about your presence, and how well you communicate those brilliant ideas, if you want others to see your vision and get on board.

Specifically, it’s about what I like to call vocal executive presence, and if you have it, you can master the Three Cs, to Command the room, Connect with the audience, and Close the deal, in any context.

Whether on camera, at the microphone or in person, your ability to look and sound like the right kind of leader will make or break the impact and success of your message. To ensure that you come across as confident, natural, relatable, and persuasive, you need to have an expertly crafted message and flawless delivery.

That’s why I’m excited to share with you “Capturing Your Confidence on Camera,” a six-part series of straight-to-the-point, down-and-dirty, DIY mini-videos that show you exactly how to turn any speaking opportunity into a home run performance. (And they’re just as applicable when you’re not on camera!)

Maybe you’ve been invited to be a guest on a podcast, to be interviewed on TV, to speak at a conference, or maybe you want to create your own promotional video for your company. Beyond being able to say, “I did that” and check it off your bucket list, do you know what outcome you want from the experience? Have you thought about what effect you want to have on the audience? And most importantly, do you know how to do it?

In this series, I’ll show you how to overcome some of the most common challenges, including:

  • Connecting with the audience
  • Starting and ending with power and clarity
  • Overcoming anxiety and not letting your nerves get the best of you
  • Speaking with a great-sounding voice
  • Moving naturally and easily
  • Navigating interviews with confidence and poise

Remember: I am not a professional actor or singer; my strategies do not come from the theater (although I’m sure there is plenty to be learned there), and I have no intention (or ability) to teach you how to act.

However, as a linguist, I can help you understand how language works, why the reputation you want is different from the reputation you have, and how the smallest changes in word, voice or gesture can have enormous influence on how your message is received.

Most importantly, instead of teaching you how to act in front of the camera or microphone, what I want to do is to show you how to use this knowledge to project your best version of yourself.

And then – here’s the kicker – once you see the difference in how people respond to you when you use these strategies, you’ll realize the value in having them become part of your new normal communication style, so that you can have your desired impact on an audience every time you open your mouth to speak.

So find the minute or two over your coffee break to watch each video when it comes out – I’ll share another link here each week – and see how you can immediately apply what you learn to your interactions on and off camera.

I hope you’ll share your experiences and experiments, letting us all know how they change the way people respond to you.

Remember: more than a role, “leadership” is an image that stems from how well you get others to understand your vision and make them want to get on board. With awareness of what influences that image and how to control it, you can ultimately master the Three Cs of vocal executive presence, so you can Command the room, Connect with the audience and Close the deal.

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Building Habits – Five Ways to Create Stronger Discipline to Reach Your Goals

How many times have you tried to create a new habit or break an old one? How successful have you been and where did you go astray? Whether it’s the new year and you are thinking about new years resolutions or it’s spring and you want to fit into your shorts from last year, as humans we seem obsessed with setting new goals, but we are not always so great at the execution.

I believe it has a lot to do with discipline or lack there of. I am defining discipline as consciously doing something repeatedly in order to obtain an end result or reach a goal. Without discipline we do not get very far, but many people were not raised with strong discipline (myself included). That means at some point we have to decide if this is something we want to improve and then we have to go to work on it.

Reaching goals is often done by creating new habits or changing old habits. For our purposes here I define habits as actions we take or thoughts we repeat enough times that they become second nature. I also recently heard habits described as patterns and that resonated with me. For some reason it felt easier to think about creating new patterns and breaking old patterns than habits.

We begin to create habits when we are young by observing those around us, seeing patterns and repeating them ourselves. Over time many of those patterns and thoughts become subconscious and turn into habits, some that serve us well and others that do not.

As we get older we continue to create new habits. Like some of the habits we created when we were younger some of these serve us well like exercise, personal development reading, and drinking lots of water. These are the habits that are created through discipline.

The ones that don’t serve us are the ones we tend to create without much thought like watching TV after work, checking email at the table, or having something sweet after dinner.

Just like it takes discipline to create the habits that serve us it also takes discipline to stop the habits that do not serve us once we acknowledge what they are and choose to create new ones. An example for me recently was giving up coffee that had become such a habit it no longer served me. I was drinking it whether I needed it or not, whether it tasted good or not and I found it was actually making me more lethargic. It took discipline to break that habit because it was so ingrained in my subconscious behaviors. What I did however was replace that habit with one that served me. Replacing coffee with hot water with lemon or the occasional cup of tea.

Because discipline comes into play not only when you want to purposely create new habits and patterns, but also when you want to break the old ones I want to share five ways to create stronger discipline in order to build new habits or break old ones along with some of the pitfalls to avoid.

  1. Set a Small and Specific Intention

If you have tried to create new habits before and were less than successful it may because you tried to take on too much change at once. Change is hard, especially if it is something you have been doing subconsciously for a long time.

By setting a small yet specific intention you have a much greater chance for success. First of all it will be much easier and take less willpower than doing it all at once. Secondly you will be able to celebrate your victory sooner and that will spur you on to add the next small but specific intention.

Setting a specific intention could be getting up 30 minutes earlier every day, walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day, three times a week, meditating for 10 minutes a day, or eating dinner without dessert three days a week. This last one is the intention around removing something that is no longer serving you like dessert that may have become a habit. Often times the focus on removing an old habit is harder than the creation of a new habit.

Many say that it takes doing something (or not doing something) consistently for at least 21 days before a new habit is created or an old habit is broken. 21 days is a pretty dated number and more current studies have said on 66 days on average. That means a specific and small habit could take less time than the average. Doing something or stopping something consistently for an average of 66 days takes discipline so the easier it is to do the more likely you are to stick with it.

That means that starting small and doing what you intend to do consistently will pay off much greater than going all in and not being able to stick with it for 66 days. After you feel you have created the new small habit you can set another small specific intention for the next habit you want to make or break. After enough time they will compound into the larger goal you were setting out for in the first place.

  1. Know Your Why

You will need a strong why if you are going to make change. Change in habits is not easy and not always fun. Setting a specific intention is only as good as your reason why. If you don’t have a strong why it will be easy to give up when it gets tough. Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” is a great book on this topic. You can also find his Ted Talk here http://bit.ly/2cweLpJ

Your why could be something for you or it could be for others. Many times when someone wants to get healthy their why has to do with their kids or family. Many people only have a strong enough why to quit smoking when they want to be around to see their grandchildren. Your why could be your team, your organization, your spouse, your kids, or yourself. The point is you need to have a strong why associated with your intentions in order to stay focused.

  1. Create a New Routine

Because habits are activities we end up doing automatically, it is easier to create a new one when we put it into a routine. It is even better if you can put it into a routine you already have that works.

You will want to be systematic in how you do this. It cannot be willy-nilly. It has to be something you are going to do every day until it becomes a habit and the best way to do that is to build your new habit into your routine.

Pick a time that is natural for your biorhythm. If you say I’m going to start working out every day at 5:00am but you have not been up before 7:00am in years this may prove to be two new disciplines you are starting, getting up early and exercising. If your new discipline is going to be meditation or writing you need to figure out the time of day that is going to be best and if there is something you are already doing that you can add this new habit to.

Maybe you currently watch the 6:00pm news and you can add 10 minutes of meditation before you turn the TV on. Instead of creating a completely new routine you are adding a small intentional new action to an already existing habit.

Once you have the discipline of doing it daily you can start to look at a different time or location that you like better or creating new routines around it.

  1. Track Your Progress

 Often when we don’t see immediate results it’s easy to stop what we set out to do. That is why tracking your progress is important. Find a way to measure your results incrementally. It could be as simple as writing down the time you wake up and how you feel if your new habit is around getting more sleep or getting up earlier. It could be tracking how much writing you do each day if that is the habit you are working on. If it’s a fitness goal there are lots of ways to track progress like number of steps, calories burned, minutes of exercise, etc.

The objective here is to see your progress even when it isn’t obvious. Just because you have not reached your destination does not mean you have not made significant progress on your journey. But the only way to really know where you are on your journey is if you track it.

It’s often hard to congratulate ourselves for something we’ve accomplished that isn’t yet obvious, but when you see the progress staring you in the face through your documenting and tracking you can easily say, “look how far I’ve come.”

  1. Find an Accountability Partner and Don’t Quit

It’s completely normal to want to create a new habit or break an old one and have trouble with it. Most people do not make big changes fast because it is hard. If it were easy we would all do it. If you find it’s difficult break your habit into smaller habits and work on one piece at a time, but just keep working on it.

Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do and they do it longer.

In conclusion remember that building discipline is not easy and you are not alone in having past failures, which is great because according to C.S. Lewis “failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

Anyone who has ever succeeded failed many times so don’t let your past attempts at any goal or any new habit deter you from continuing on your path. Learn from the past, try again, do things differently, learn new things, and most importantly don’t quit!

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Just Hanging In There

Do you ever hear people say, “I’m hanging in there” when you ask them how they are? Have you ever used that answer? For more than 10 years, working as a consultant, I had spent a lot of time with clients at their offices around the country and the globe. There was a theme I was picking up when I asked someone how they were doing – I heard a lot of people say, “I’m hanging in there.”

Why should that matter to you? Because if you are reading this and you are responsible for an organization or a team then this answer is probably impacting your bottom line. That is because the people who are just hanging in there are not engaged and we know from Gallup study after Gallup study that average employee engagement hangs in the low to mid 30% range. We also know that disengaged employees tend to move on to new jobs more frequently, which can cost businesses approximately 1.5 times the annual salary of every person who quits. And that is just one number that low engagement affects in a costly way.

Start to listen to the answers when you ask people how they are; I bet you will notice that a lot of people are saying, “I’m hanging in there.” Other ways to say that are “I’m good for a Monday”, “we are half way there” or the most well known “TGIF.”

When I catch myself saying those words I can feel the energy drain out of me. Just saying it out loud right now makes me feel less motivated and less energetic. Think about how that can affect employees and morale within your workforce.

If you hear a more positive response that is good news, because it means that you are in a place with good or great company culture and happy employees. If that is your organization, you are on the right track.

So what do you do if you are leading and you are hearing the “just hanging in there” types of responses? Even worse what do you do if you are the one saying them?

Well you have two choices. You could ignore it all and keep the business-as-usual approach, or you can say, “I’m ready to do something different even if I don’t yet know what that is.”

We often hear attributed to Einstein that insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Whether he said it or not, it wasn’t originally said as a response to leadership, workplace satisfaction, or company culture; but today that definition does hold true in corporate America. Many leaders are doing the insane when they go to work everyday in a culture where it seems by the engagement surveys that most people are just hanging in there, doing the same things over and over again, but expecting or hoping for change.

Why would there be change if you don’t change? How you do anything is how you do everything and if you are in charge that means the change has to start with you.

Imagine, what would it be like to go to work in the morning and find that everyone around you wants to be there (regardless of it being Monday or Friday), they are excited to be there, and they are engaged and committed to excellence? Seriously, close your eyes for a minute and imagine how much more would get done. Can you imagine what type of results you and your organization could achieve if the entire workforce was doing more than just hanging in there? There is no one-size-fits-all solution to getting to that great vision, but it starts with acknowledging that things need to change and admitting that you need to change. It starts with evaluating your leadership and communication styles, your priorities, your values, and that of your team and organization.

It starts with an open mind and the willingness to ask questions and be ready for what might be some tough answers that are hard to hear. There is an old Chinese proverb that says the fish rots from the head. If you find dysfunction, dissatisfaction, low productivity, high turnover, or any other symptom of the “just hanging in there” syndrome it’s time to figure out where it is stemming from. Is it coming from you as the leader or from another source? Don’t take this lightly and assume that it must be coming from somewhere else, it’s time to dig deep and take a hard look at the culture that you, as the leader are responsible for.

If you are looking for tactical ideas and resources in the short term you can pick up a copy of my book, The Corporate Detox (www.amazon.com or www.c-suiteresults.com/book). For a free consult to discuss what may be causing the “just hanging in there” syndrome at your organization visit http://www.c-suiteresults.com/contact.

While I know it can be hard to ask for help, start by asking yourself these questions and reaching out to someone who has the tools and systems in place to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

What will happen if I do this?

What will happen if I don’t do this?

What won’t happen if I do this?

What won’t happen if I don’t do this?

There are lots of experts out there on this topic, so find someone you feel good working with and start creating excellence and engagement so that no one in your organization is left just hanging in there.

Categories
Growth Personal Development

To Create a Customer Focused Culture, Do This ONE Thing

 

I could start this article with a list of the “Top Ten Ways to Deliver Great Customer Service.” Many of my articles begin in a similar way. But I am going to make this one much simpler. I’m not going to present ten ideas here, but simply one word.

And, that word is… alignment.

Perhaps the most important way to improve the service you deliver to your customers is to make sure that everyone in your organization is in alignment with the customer service and/or the customer experience vision. While the concept is just one word, there are several steps necessary to take to achieve that alignment.

The first step is to define your vision in simple and memorable terms.

In a previous article, I discuss the concept of creating your customer service mantra, which is my fancy way of describing a customer service vision statement. Before you can achieve alignment, you must give everyone in the organization something to align with. I prefer a vision statement or mantra that is short and to the point. So, if you don’t already have a vision for everyone to align with, get one!

After you craft a customer service vision statement – or mantra, as I like to call it – the next step is to show everyone in the organization how they are impacted by that vision. And, I mean everyone!  Begin with a basic customer journey map that shows all of the typical interactions – or touchpoints – that your customers have when they come into contact with your business. You may find that you will need more than one map to adequately describe this journey, since many different journeys may exist.  For instance, a customer’s sales journey may be different from a customer service or support journey. Further, the interactions a customer has on your company’s website will be different than interactions over the phone or in person.

A second part of the journey map exercise may be needed to show underneath each touchpoint how different departments and roles within those departments impact those touchpoints. If the journey maps are done correctly, you will eventually be able to show how each and every department – in other words, ultimately every employee – impacts the customer’s experience.

I’m surprised by the number of organizations who haven’t even yet created a single customer journey map, let alone multiple ones. However, this is an essential step before you can even think about getting your employees into alignment.

By getting everyone in the organization to know and understand your customer service vision, and showing them on journey maps how everyone, even as individuals, impacts the customer’s experience, you can begin to train the entire organization to your vision. Like many things in life, this process may be simple in concept, but is not always easy to do.

For this process to work, you must have an effective communication strategy for the vision. It can begin with an announcement. The mantra should be positioned as not only a vision, but also as an expectation that everyone must keep in the forefronts of their minds, regardless of their roles and responsibilities in the organization.

And just announcing and communicating the vision is not enough. Each and every employee must be properly trained. The vision must also constantly be reinforced by the leaders of the organization. The vision must be obvious and almost overt. For employees to be in alignment, they must know it, understand it, and be able to execute it.

Delivering great customer service isn’t just for the customer service department or the front line. It’s everyone’s job. So, if there is one thing that will make a difference in the way you service your customers, it is to get everyone in the organization in alignment with your customer service mantra.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken