Tag Archives: Leadership

Plugging In

July 22, 2016 Liz Stincelli 2 Comments

I am not an ‘unplug’ person. I like being plugged in.” —Rachel Sklar

As a leader, how much of your time is spent on autopilot? You may have the title, you may even have the big corner office but, if you are leading in autopilot mode, you are no leader. So, how do snap out of the autopilot habit? You have to start plugging in as a leader. Here are four questions that you need to answer, not just when hiring, not once a year, not even once a week but, every single day.

Who are they?

You need to really plug into your employees. Not just on a professional level, but on a personal level. Who are they? What is their family like? What are their hobbies? This doesn’t mean you become your employees’ best friend. What it does mean is that you get to know them, show interest in them as individuals, and show that you care about them and their lives.

What do they know?

You need to plug into your employees’ knowledge. Each of your employees brings with them a specific set of skills and a unique collection of experiences. What do they know? When you know what your employees bring to the table, you know how they can best benefit the organization and, you also know how you can best benefit them.

What do they want?

You need to plug into what your employees want. What are their goals? What are they passionate about? When you know what they want, not only can you earn their trust and loyalty by helping them achieve their goals, you are in a better position to motivate and inspire them. When you help your employees achieve the things they want, you give them meaning and the satisfaction of being part of something important.

What do they need?

You need to plug into the needs of your employees. Employees are more effective, more productive, and more dedicated when their needs are met in the workplace. Do they need additional training? Are they lacking necessary resources? What type of work environment do they need in order to give their best effort? When you meet the needs of your employees, their performance will rise to a whole new level.

Plug In

You can’t lead effectively if you go through your day operating on autopilot. Break the autopilot cycle by plugging in. Who are your employees? What do they know? What do they want? What do they need? These are the questions that you need to answer on a daily basis. When you know the answers, you can truly start leading.

Liz Stincelli is passionate about recognizing and inspiring the leader in each of us. She is the Founder of Stincelli Advisors where she focuses on helping organizations engage employees and improve organizational culture. Liz holds a Doctor of Management degree with an emphasis on organizational leadership.

Learn more about Liz by visiting her website, stincelliadvisors.com and connect with her on Twitter @infinitestin, Google+, and LinkedIn. You can contact her by email at stincelliadvisors@gmail.com.

Employee Engagement, Leadership

Employee Engagement: Ready to Call off the Wedding?

July 17, 2016 Liz Stincelli

Had a great conversation with my good friend, Beth Strathman on employee engagement. Listen here:

http://leadlikenobodysbusiness.com/2016/07/16/employee-engagement-ready-to-call-off-the-wedding/

Culture, Leadership, Work Environment

It’s a New Work Environment: How do You Get Results?

July 15, 2016 Liz Stincelli 2 Comments

“It used to be presumed that if you weren’t at your desk working, you weren’t working, but we said ‘Why can’t we make a workplace where casual meetings are as important as working at your desk?’ Sometimes that’s where your better creative work happens.” —David Chipperfield

The days of command and control leadership are gone. So are the days of slaving away in a factory for your entire life until retirement. The Millennial generation finds the old way of doing business stifling. Employees are becoming more agile and connected than ever; they want flexibility and autonomy. So, how do you get the results you need to be successful in this new work environment?

Be observant

As a leader, you must keep a finger on the pulse of your work environment. The best way to do this is actual, first person observation. Not observation from some corner office, but out on the floor, in the middle of operations observation. When you are out on the floor you get to know your employees, their wants, and their needs. When you really know what’s going on, you can make the needed adjustments to keep things running smoothly.

Share information

Gone are the days of employees being satisfied with only being provided the information that management deems pertinent to their particular tasks. This generation has grown up being bombarded with information; they want access to all to the data and then to be allowed to sort through it on their own. Start sharing the ‘big picture’ information. Where is the company going? How is it going to get there? What is the market like? What kind of changes can they expect to see? The more informed your employees are the better contribution they can make.

Ask questions

There is no better way to learn what is working, what is not, what people want, what people need, and what people know than by asking. You may actually be surprised at the new knowledge you may gain and the new opportunities that might be brought to your attention if only you were to ask the right questions. I’m not talking about closed door meetings with trusted advisors. Again, I’m talking about out on the floor, employees at every level questioning.

Follow up

If you ask the question and you get an answer, you better make sure you follow up. Lack of follow up sends the message that you have no respect for the needs, wants, or input of your employees. More than ever, it’s important that your employees know they are being heard. When you not only ask the questions, but truly listen to the answers and then follow up, employees will learn to trust you. And, they only really follow those they trust.

Be flexible

A rigid work environment is no longer appealing. Why do you care? Because unless you provide an appealing work environment you will lose your best talent and be unable to attract the caliber of talent needed to compete with organizations where flexibility is embraced. This doesn’t mean you need to allow employees to run helter-skelter; it just means that you allow them to make adjustments so that their work and personal lives can become more integrated.

It’s a New Environment

It’s a new work environment. What worked in the past will not attract and keep good employees in the future. The way you lead is going to have to change. Become observant. Start sharing information. Ask questions. Make sure you follow up. And, learn to be flexible.

This new workforce has a lot to offer. Make sure that you provide the right environment so they are offering it to you and not your competition.

Leadership, Teaching

Leading is about Teaching not Just Telling

July 8, 2016 Liz Stincelli 4 Comments

“Anything that is worth teaching can be presented in many different ways. These multiple ways can make use of our multiple intelligences.” —Howard Gardner

Great leadership takes investing in your employees. They want a mentor, someone to help them become the best they can be. They want to learn and grow. And, as a leader, you are in the perfect position to serve as a teacher. One small catch, teaching is about more than just telling. So, how can you become a great teacher?

Set the example

Teaching all starts out with the example you set. We all know the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “What you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.” This is true in both your personal and your professional life. Employees are watching you to determine if you are authentic. Can they trust you? And, are you really someone they can look up to and learn from? Make sure your words match your actions; set the example of successful behaviors for employees to follow.

Hands on

Most people learn better when they get hands-on experience. Make sure employees get the chance to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Once they get some real hands-on experience, talk to them about what they’ve learned, what input they have, and what they would like more experience doing. Once employees get real experience, you may learn more from them than they learn from you.

Embrace failure

Embed learning from failure into the very fabric of your organization. Encourage employees to explore, experiment, get creative, fail, and then build on that failure to create something even better. Failure can be reprimanded, or used as a stepping stone to success. As a leader, you get to determine if employees get the opportunity to embrace and learn from failure.

Continual opportunity

Employees want opportunities. Not one time opportunities, but continual opportunities. They want to try new things, learn how other departments work, and get an understanding of operations from a ‘big picture’ view. The more opportunities you open up for employees, the more they learn, the greater their value to you as a leader and to the organization as a whole.

Go Beyond Telling

Everyone learns differently. You can lecture and explain all you want; the fact is teaching is about more than just telling. Set the example for employees to follow. Give employees hands on experience and then ask them for feedback on their experience. Encourage them to embrace and learn from failure rather than fear it. And, offer them continual opportunity to stretch, learn, and grow.

Culture, Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Organizational Culture

What is the Quality of Your Culture?

June 30, 2016 Liz Stincelli

“The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they’re valued.” —Ken Robinson
Your organization has a culture; it may be a culture that has been deliberately developed or it may be one that has grown, unnoticed, from the behaviors of organizational leaders. This culture will either have a positive impact on employees, productivity, and innovation or, it will erode the very foundation that the organization needs to be successful. So, what is the quality of your culture?

Collaboration

One of the most obvious signs of a healthy culture is the willingness and ability of employees at every level of the organization to collaborate. This starts with you; as a leader, you must let employees see that you do not know everything and you need the knowledge and support of others. When they see your willingness to collaborate and your appreciation for the value that is created from collaborative efforts, they will be much more comfortable following your example.

Engagement

Another clear sign of a healthy culture is a high level of engagement by employees in their work. Engagement is about active participation. This is not ‘just going through the motion’ participation, but truly invested in the task at hand participation. This type of engagement is developed by leaders who share their big picture passion with employees. These leaders help every employee understand the incredible value they add to every task they participate in. Then they allow employees to have control over their own work.

Curiosity

One often overlooked sign of a healthy culture is curiosity throughout the organization. Curiosity is what drives innovation. It keeps employees excited about their work and wanting to learn and do more. As a leader, you either encourage curiosity and outside-the-box thinking, or you stifle it with an ‘I don’t pay you to think’ attitude. Challenge employees to be curious, to experiment, and to explore new ideas. Curiosity benefits the employee, you as the leader, and the entire organization.

Support

One of the biggest components of a healthy culture is the support of employees by management. Employees need to know you have their back and their best interest at heart. They need to know that they can trust you, and that you trust and respect them in return. An employee should never feel like they have been left to tread water alone. Make sure every employee knows that you are right there with them.

You are the Key

You are the key. You will either use your leadership to purposefully develop a positive culture, or you will turn a blind eye and it will take on a life of its own. Either way, it’s your leadership behaviors that will determine the quality of your culture. Set the example that fosters collaboration. Share the passion that inspires engagement. Challenge employees to be curios. And, make sure your employees know that you are there to support them. So, what is the quality of your culture?

Habits, Inspiration, Leadership, Success

How are You Going to Get to the Next Level of Greatness?

June 24, 2016 Liz Stincelli 10 Comments

“Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and feelings, personal relationships; they’re all a projection of you.” —Deepak Chopra
So here you are; you have come so far. But, is this where you are going to stop? Or, are you ready to reach the next level of greatness? As you start out on your journey, here are five questions to ask yourself.

Who are you?

Not the ‘who’ that everyone has been telling you to be, but the ‘who’ you were before you started believing them. Who were you when you were a child, young and naive? Who are you when you are alone with your thoughts, where no one can see or hear you? If you want to get to the next level of greatness, you have to find who you are at your very core.

What stories are you telling yourself?

Are they the same stories that you tell the world? Where did they come from? When did they start? Who first told them to you? And, most important, are they true? The stories that you tell yourself will either propel you to the next level of greatness or serve as an anchor around your neck that will sink you. Make sure you are telling yourself the right stories. Word of warning here, don’t lie to yourself; find positive, inspiring, powerful stories that are true.

What are your strengths?

While it’s good to minimize your weaknesses, your energy is much better spent on building on your strengths. What can you do to become even stronger? Can you become a subject matter expert, the go to person in your area of strength? If you want to reach the next level of greatness you can’t be a jack-of-all-trades; identify your strengths and run with them.

What are your goals?

You can’t reach the next level of greatness by wandering lost in the woods. Get realistic about where you are and then visualize what that next level looks like. What does it feel like? Now, set some goals to get you from here to there. Not giant, overwhelming goals; set small incremental goals that serve as stepping stones.

Who do you need to become?

The answer to this question holds the key to all success. The person that got you here can’t get you to the next level of greatness. So, what kind of individual would be able to attain that level? What would they know? How would they act? Who would they spend their time with? What habits would they have? Well, if you want to get to the next level, you’re going to have to become that person. So, get busy.

The Key

You hold the key to getting to the next level of greatness. It’s inside of you right now. You’re going to have to do some deep, sometimes uncomfortable soul searching to figure out who you really are. Then, you are going to have to unravel years’ worth of stories to get to the bottom of where they came from and if they are even true. You are going to have to start telling yourself new, powerful, and positive stories. You’re going to have to dig down and identify your true strengths and then pursue these strengths rather than fretting over your weaknesses.

You’re going to have to figure out how you are going to get from here to there and set some goals to keep yourself on track. And finally, you MUST figure out who you need to become in order to reach the next level of greatness. Now for the catch, answering all of these questions, no matter how deep you dig and how honest you are with yourself will get you nowhere without action.

So, get out there and get going!

Leadership

Why Should Your Leadership be a Partnership?

June 17, 2016 Liz Stincelli 2 Comments

“When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colors in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.” — Ben Harper

They say that, “variety is the spice of life.” I believe that this is particularly true in leadership. One opinion; one way of doing things; decisions based on the experience of one person, these can all spell disaster for your leadership. So, here are some of the reasons that your leadership should be a partnership.

You don’t know it all

I don’t care how educated you are or how long you’ve been in the business; you don’t know it all! Thinking you know it all will eventually lead to your downfall. But, when you view your leadership as a partnership you can benefit from the experience and knowledge of employees, suppliers, and even clients.

You can’t do it all

I don’t care how efficient you are or how well you think you can multitask; you can’t do it all! When you try to do it all, you eventually become the single point of failure. But, when you partner with others you create a team of qualified individuals who you can depend on to get the job done.

Co-creation is superior

There have been very few times where the ideas, products, and innovation of a single individual have been better than those developed by a team of individuals working together. Since you can’t know everything, and you can’t do everything, it follows logically that you can’t create everything by yourself either. You may have some great ideas, but so might your colleagues. So, why not partner and co-create something superior?

Respect and trust

When you partner with your employees, customers, and suppliers, you show that you respect and trust them. And, guess what? You will never gain their respect and trust until you give it first. When you partner with others you send the message that you value their knowledge and experience and that you see them as your equals. This is the behavior that builds the respectful, trusting relationships that allow you to succeed as a leader.

Develop Partnerships

I can say with a fair amount of confidence that you will never succeed alone. It takes the support of a group of people to accomplish anything worth accomplishing. Yes, you could treat your people as employees, dictating the work to be done but, true success comes from developing partnerships. You see, partnerships are mutually beneficial, not one sided; everyone wins. So, stop leading and start partnering.

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors, Leadership Development

Are You Showing Up Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally as a Leader?

June 10, 2016 Liz Stincelli 4 Comments

“Showing up every day isn’t enough. There are a lot of guys who show up every day who shouldn’t have shown up at all.” —James Caan

Leadership isn’t about just being a warm body; it’s about showing up mentally, physically, and emotionally for your people. This is what makes you the type of leader that people follow willingly. So, are you showing up?

Mentally

When you show up mentally for your employees, you invest yourself into developing them into the best that they can be. As a leader, you need to focus on effective training, developing a pleasant working environment, and showing employees that you value their contributions. When grow your employees, your ability to lead effectively will also grow.

Physically

When you show up physically for your employees, you do not look down on them from a lofty office; you roll up your sleeves and get out on the floor. Your front line employees need to see you in the trenches with them, gaining an understanding of what their tasks require and what works and doesn’t work. When employees see you out on the floor with them, not to judge or micromanage, but to learn and support, you will earn their trust and respect.

Emotionally

When you show up emotionally for your employees, you get to know each of them on an individual basis. You start caring about them both professionally and personally. You get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, their aspirations, and their fears. When you show up emotionally for your employees, you become a source of support, understanding, and encouragement for them.

How are You Showing Up?

Just showing up every day isn’t enough. In order to be an effective leader who inspires others to follow willingly, you must show up for your employees mentally, physically, and emotionally. Invest in their development, spend time out on the floor with them, and offer them support on an individual level. So, how are you showing up?

Leadership, Leadership Behaviors

Are You There for Your People?

June 3, 2016 Liz Stincelli 2 Comments

“Too many leaders act as if the sheep…their people… are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.” —Ken Blanchard

Do your leadership behaviors tell your employees that you see them as a tool to achieve your own goals? Or, do they think you see them as an important part of the team? Are they there to serve you? Or, are you there to serve them? Effective leaders are a benefit to their employees. This benefit is not based on the perception of the leader; it is based on the perception of the employees. So, do your employees know you are there for them or do they think they are there just for you?

Trust

Trust is a two-way street. It’s not only important that your employees trust you to do what is in their best interest, but that you trust them. How does your behavior signal employees that you trust them? Leaders who trust their employees allow them to have control over their own work. They allow them to make decisions and take action without being micromanaged. When employees know that you trust them, they feel that you are there for them and they see your leadership as a benefit.

Investment

When you invest your time and resources in developing your employees it shows them that they are valued. We are drawn to people who want the best for us and are willing to invest their strengths in helping us achieve our goals. When you are willing to invest in your employees, helping them to become the best that they can be, you are demonstrating that you are there for them.

Community

When you develop a sense of community employees feel like they belong. Community brings us together and motivates us to work toward the good of the whole. When employees know they are part of a community that you have created and support they feel safe and believe that you, as a leader, are there for them.

Be There

To be an effective leader your employees must know that you are there for them. When they know that your leadership is beneficial it gives you the power and influence you need to be a successful leader. If your employees feel that you see them only as a tool for accomplishing your own goals, they will close themselves off from you and your attempts to influence them will be ineffective. Develop mutual trust with your employees. Invest your time and resources into their development. And, develop the sense of community where employees know they are safe and part of something bigger than themselves. Let your people know that you are there for them.

Connection, Leadership, Relationships

Three Keys to Connecting with Others

May 27, 2016 Liz Stincelli 4 Comments

“The business of business is relationships; the business of life is human connection.” —Robin S. Sharma

By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM

We need human connection in both our personal and our professional lives. Almost everything that is accomplished is made possible through relationships. Since it is nearly impossible to succeed all alone, here are three keys to really connecting with others.

Listen authentically

Developing a relationship requires communication. But, the key to connecting with others is the listening side of the communication equation. Listening shows others that you are truly interested in them and what they have to say. It shows respect and allows you to get to know them as individuals on a deeper level.

Engage authentically

When you engage with others you show interest in their lives, their work, their goals, and their dreams. When you engage authentically you find the commonalities that create a sense of community, a sense of connection. Engagement, like listening, shows interest; it allows all parties to get to know each other, to find shared interests, and collaborate to achieve great goals.

Care authentically

At the end of the day, connection comes down to caring about another person. Not caring about what they have to offer you; not caring about whom they know; not caring about what they do; it’s about caring authentically. When you care about others on an individual basis you open the door to real connection.

Connect Authentically

Great things can be accomplished when two or more individuals connect authentically. This deep connection creates relationships that are built on trust and respect. Learn to listen, engage, and care authentically; these are the behaviors that foster true connection.