Coaching for Leaders

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*. Question from Willian I have been working at the same area (Customer Service) for 2 years and 9 months. I really like my job and I have a better performance comparing with my coworkers who are older than me. How do you see the integration between people from different generations at work? How can I improve my influence with people more experienced than I? Is there any tip for people like me who need to contact professionals from different cultures at work? “The counts of the indictment are luxury, bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect to elders, and a love for chatter in place of exercise. Children began to be the tyrants, not the slaves, of their households. They no longer rose from their seats when an elder entered the room; they contradicted their parents, chattered before company, gobbled up the dainties at table, and committed various offenses against Hellenic tastes.” -Kenneth John Freeman Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini* How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie* Episode 59: Seven Principles for Leading People Older Than You Episode 158: How to Lead the Millennials Jack Welch on reverse mentoring Millennials Who Manage by Chip Espinoza* Question from Tammy I can see how alerting the group to bad news before the meeting could be good, but if they have time to stew over it won’t they be even more resistant to the idea when they come to the meeting? I am in a position where I am having to get a group of people to do something that they do not want to do and do not see value in. How do I get buy in? I am passionate about it but my group is very resistant and will not listen to my ideas without the whole meeting turning in to an argument instead of a productive meeting. 5 Ways To Address A Hostile Audience Question from Andrew I am a university admissions counsellor, which means I work with students from their initial contact/application all the way through to seeing them registered in their program. It’s essentially a sales job (targets, travel, and lots of phone calls, emails and presentations). It turns out I am very good at my job and I have not yet failed to meet my goals. It is however a very cyclical job and I’m just starting my third cycle. The problem is, I’m getting pretty bored answering the same questions over and over again. I suspect my introverted and ADD personality are culprits in this. Do you have any suggestions on how to stay fresh and engaged with prospects when handling lots of repetitive tasks? Question from Sylvia I have recently been promoted. I would appreciate your input what I should use for presentations. I would like to be creative and innovative in my presentations. Please let me know what you believe is the best product to accomplish my goal(s). She also wants to know more about interactive technology. slide:ology by Nancy Duarte* Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds* Poll Everywhere Haiku Deck Question from Katie I am currently working with my leadership team to identify areas where we can work to develop our team members (mostly hourly employees who do a lot of processing). Critical thinking is an area that has come up. I am wondering if either of you have any advice and or can point me to your archive for some tips on critical thinking skills and how to develop them. Second email: For this particular situation, I have a group of team members that are hourly and they are more “repetitive process” oriented in their day-to-day activities. But, we want them to stretch and grow. Specifically, we are looking for them to use more analytical skills in the their work and to question repetitive processes that may not add value. Additionally, we are looking for people to make better decisions both individually and as a team, to anticipate the needs of their customers and to always be willing to help others solve problems and do their best work. Ultimately, I want a team of people that do not simply follow orders, but work together to improve their skills and benefit the company. We are dealing with some team members that are highly tenured and have done things a certain way for a long time, so change is difficult. I am looking for tools and resources that will enable me to help them think differently (and go outside the box). Analyzing Performance Problems by Robert F. Mager & Peter Pipe* Tesla Autopilot Video Episode 37 of Teaching in Higher Ed podcast: Developing Critical Thinking Skills The Look & Sound and Leadership podcast Feedback Comments, questions, or feedback for future Q&A shows: http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback The next Q&A show is episode 221 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.

Kirsten Foot: Collaborating Against Human Trafficking “There are blindnesses that can only be smoothed out when leaders from one sector really listen to the leaders of another sector.” -Kirsten Foot Resources that Kirsten and Dave mentioned during the episode that will help your collaborate across organizations: Collaborating Against Human Trafficking: Cross-Sector Challenges and Practices* by Kirsten Foot BEST (Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking) Alliance Collaborating Against Human Trafficking U.S. Department of Labor: International Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports U.S. Department of Labor: List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor Ending Human Trafficking podcast Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living* by Dale Carnegie is a classic that can help almost immediately. I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened. -Mark Twain 1. Seal Off Your Troubles 2. Find the Silver Living Thank goodness I’m not married to this person. 3. Focus on What’s Next I mentioned Tim Stringer of Technically Simple and his excellent Holistic Productivity* course. There’s only two problems in life. Either you don’t know where you’re going or you don’t know the next step. -David Allen 4. Consider the Worst Case Scenario 5. Eliminate Worry For Good 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.

JV Crum III: Conscious Millionaire Author, Conscious Millionaire: Grow Your Business by Making a Difference Host, Conscious Millionaire Podcast “It’s the leader’s responsibility to set the vision.” – JV Crum III “Vision is about how you’re going to transform your client’s life.” – JV Crum III A great question for every leader to ask: ”How is my business contributing to making this world the one I really want to live in?” The Formula for Creating Wealth: 1. Conscious Leaders need to ask: “Who are you and why do you want to chose one priority over another?” “What resources are you going to need?” “What are the different options for getting to the #1 priority?” 2. Focused “If you’re a leader and you have a vision and you have your whole heart in it, your chances of achieving it is significantly higher.” 3. Action List out the actions you think you need to be taking. Put them in the order they need to occur. Does something need to happen before each step? 4. Result How well did we achieve the stated outcome? What were the unexpected positives and negatives? 5. Learning What worked? What didn’t work? What needs to change? “You need to be attached to the outcome and completely open and flexible as to how you get there.” – JV Crum III Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Guest Bonni Stachowiak from Teaching in Higher Ed discusses barriers for migrators to move up to manager positions due to cultural dynamics. Suggestions for maximizing standing meetings and the value of effective communication outside of meetings are shared. Episode provides practical tips for team meetings and resources for organizational adaptability.

Jeremie Kubicek 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time* Jeremie Kubicek is co-founder of GiANT Worldwide and the GiANT companies. He is the bestselling author of Making Your Leadership Come Alive and speaker to organizations throughout the world on transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, and personal growth. 5th Gear: Learn to Get “In the Zone” Do you have trouble getting “In The Zone”? This is where 5th gear can help. Time flies by, you get things done, and progress is made. Dave mentioned the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience* by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 4th Gear: Leading in a Task World Most adults spend their day multi-tasking with phone calls, emails, chores and more. Learning how to manage 4th gear correctly is key for maximum productivity. 3rd Gear: Why Being Social Matters Third Gear is all about being social and building friendships. It happens in coffee shops, at dinner parties and other social gatherings, and it’s the secret ingredient in business that many people overlook. “Be interested before being interesting.” -Jeremie Kubicek Dave mentioned episode 193: Five Ways to Be a Go-Giver with Bob Burg 2nd Gear: Connecting Deeply How often do you have deep, refreshing conversations? Do you really know how to be present with others? This is 2nd gear. 1st Gear: Learn How To Recharge Most people struggle to truly recharge. Learn how successful people take time to rest and recharge so they can give their families, teams and friends their best. Reverse: Learn How to Apologize Most people struggle with backing up and apologizing. Reverse is all about owning your mistakes and moving forward in a healthy way. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Sharone Bar-David (LinkedIn) Author, Trust Your Canary: Every Leader’s Guide to Taming Workplace Incivility* Six beliefs that cause many of us to tolerate workplace incivility: We’re Like Family Here We Have the Right to Vent I Know My Colleague’s Boundaries You Can’t Change Someone’s Personality The Characteristics of the Group (or Industry) Make it OK People Need to Get Thicker Skins “It’s your responsibility to create a workplace where everyone can perform at their best.” -Sharone Bar-David 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.

John Corcoran: How to Increase Your Income Today by Building Relationships with Influencers, Even if you Hate Networking Key Points Focus on the groups and associations that match best with your networking goals. Volunteer to serve the association in a way that allows you to easier connect with others. Invest time over six months or a year before you expecting to see a meaningful return. Identify people you want to know and considering interviewing them for the benefit of the rest of the association. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

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*. Bonni mentioned episode 84: Daniel Pink on To Sell is Human We also mentioned and recommended the book Drive by Daniel Pink* as a great resource on how to motivate people Audio Question from Jenga ”The only way to influence someone is to find out what they want and show them how to get it.” -Dale Carnegie Dave mentioned the Carnegie Coach series on “innerviewing:” Carnegie Coach episode 39: Get To Know People Without Being Awkward Carnegie Coach episode 40: Just the Facts, Ma’am Carnegie Coach episode 41: Discovering Another Person’s Motives Caring Coach episode 42: How to Know What People Value Question from Tyler How do you get off the phone with someone who is a long-winded “good ole boy?” My analysts each work with lots of sales reps, and many accounts. We have a few sales reps who like to call every day, and invariably the call ends up being 15-25 minutes. A lot of drawn out, slow responses. Talking about local news, smalltalk before they want to get down to business. This is a really essential part of the local culture, but my team doesn’t have time for it. If every rep did that every day, we’d have to work 16 hours a day just to get off the phones. Bonni mentioned How to End a Conversation video posted on The Art of Manliness Question from Roger I am a trainer in a corporation that just went through an acquisition. My manager has assured me that he likes training and will keep this position for the foreseeable future. He’s has asked me about my future plans/desires, my answer was that I love the role I am in but would like to make it grow into a “Manager” position since my duties vary especially now. My current project may take a few years. At the same time I am very engaged with my home facility trying to create and be a part of any new systems or leadership training for my local/regional team. Any advice from you and Bonni? These are the areas I “think” I want to grow and need help to “intraprenurally” achieve: Remain a crucial component to the company in the current training role. Evolve the role into mentoring, technical and future training opportunities. Create a manager position to grow into. I do not have any specific training credentials or graduate degrees just 20+ years of service in various capacities. Audio Question from Phil Dave mentioned finding Transitioning Vets by Bill Nowicki on iTunes Dave recommends the following article on mentoring: 10 Ways to Be a Better Mentor From Those Who’ve Done It Feed Your Career Octopus: Tips For Finding (And Keeping) Awesome Mentors “Sometimes our nervousness can translate into a deep, high regard for another person and what they’ve contributed.” -Bonni Stachowiak Question from Shannon I’m struggling with a boss whose management style is “adhoc-cratic”. In addition, she values relationships but not timely and thorough intra office communication, and she is slow to follow through. This has delayed work and caused much tension and poor communication with our senior leadership. One senior leader says she holds me equally responsible, though this seems completely unfair given the power dynamics and balance of responsibility, especially when it comes to managing the work of other staff. I’ve taken on much responsibility to compensate, but am concerned that I can’t do both of our jobs in the long-term. I have two young children and 90 hour work weeks are not possible. Without additional staff, I would burn out and the timeliness and quality of the work might be compromised. How do I manage up in this situation? Reminder from Duke “The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, and serve first. The conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” -Robert Greenleaf Dave mentioned episode 137: The Power of Servant Leadership Suggestion from Rick I find the word feedback often has a negative connotation for people because of their experiences receiving feedback. A colleague once gave me a great definition for feedback. Feedback is simply information in the present about something in the past that may affect my future. For example if you said: Richard, I loved your workshop. Next time you facilitate it if you could spend more time on XXXXX that would be really impactful. You haven’t used the word feedback and it’s exactly what you’ve given me. I say it “may affect my future” because I have to choose whether or not to use that feedback that was given to me. In that essence it truly is a gift. I find that in organizational cultures where feedback has not been done effectively sometimes redefining what it means can make all the difference. Dave mentioned episode 143: Accepting Feedback With Sheila Heen of Difficult Conversations ”What’s one thing you see me doing (or failing to do) that holds me back?” -Sheila Heen Quote from Aaron “Results develop credibility, which develops trust, which ultimately develops freedom, to spend time on developing others into results orientated leaders.” -Aaron Rigg 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.

Mark Barden: A Beautiful Constraint Mark Barden is the author of A Beautiful Constraint: How To Transform Your Limitations Into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business*. Working with constraints is more and more the norm in today’s organizations. Dr. Seuss was an early example how a constraint helped him develop a style that became uniquely his own. Even if you believe in the potential from constraints, it doesn’t mean you still like them — especially early on. “We are the stories we tell ourselves.” -Mark Barden “As a marketer, you go nowhere if you don’t understand the needs of your audience.” -Mark Barden “Anybody with the right mindset, the right method, and the right motivation, can be better.” -Mark Barden Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.