Month: May 2019

Forget Hiring Great People Until You Fire Your Lousy Managers

We’ve all been there, working for a company that you love, but you just can’t stay. Why? Because of how ineffective your manager’s skills are or how undermining they can be. Here’s a shocking statistic: more than one in two Americans have left a job to get away from a toxic boss to find happiness elsewhere, according to a Gallup poll.

Instead of allowing fear and resentment to build in your employees, acting quickly to change the situation is a must. There’s no need to worry if the entire team will fall once the manager is dealt with. In most circumstances, employees will work harder and be happier once the manager that has brought them down for so long is gone.

Qualities of an Ineffective Manager

Sometimes recognizing a lousy manager can be easy, while other times it will take employees speaking up for you to see the problems. Below are a few examples of how managers can change the dynamic of their team and effectively put a damper on your company.

Micromanaging

Most newer or recently promoted managers don’t realize they are micromanaging their teams until it is too late. Instead of providing guidance and allowing their team to produce, they will pick apart every ounce of work or take over and finish the work themselves.

Closed-Minded

An effective leader will listen to the opinion of their team and, where possible, implement useful ideas for the better of the company. When a manager believes only their opinion matters, the views of others will be of little interest to them. It can cause disagreements throughout the team dynamic and potentially lead to a hostile environment.

Doesn’t Set Clear Goals

A team without clear expectations from their manager will not be able to work cohesively towards a goal. They will either be working in whatever direction they think is best or barely working at all without any direction.

What To Do Next

Now, the only two options you have are to either work with the manager to try to improve the situation or release them. If you choose the first option, have an in person meeting with the manager to discuss what you see that isn’t working and train them to become a more effective leader. Be sure to periodically check with their team to see if there has been any improvement by utilizing employee engagement surveys or asking them directly.

If no improvements have been made, the time will come to either demote or fire them. Not only is it bad for business to keep them in a power position, but your reputation can decline too. The best businesses only have the best leaders.

Contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

8 Traits of the Most Successful Business Leaders

As an entrepreneur, you might find yourself wondering about those highly successful companies. Just how do they do it? How do they take their company from bottom feeders to positioning themselves as global leaders in just a few short years?

To answer that, we must take a look at their leaders. If you study the behaviors of the top performing companies, then you will see they all have one thing in common: others-centric and unpretentious leaders. In fact, if you study the CEO’s and other persons in upper leadership roles of all the top performing companies, you will see they all have the same skill set.

Here are the top 8 things that exceptional leaders do to drive their companies to the top.

They do not impose

They will sit back and allow their employees to work. They have extended trust to their team and will allow them the freedom to work without the boss coming in and taking over.

They let others talk

They are able listeners who allow others to take the credit. They are confident enough in their own abilities to take a back seat and let their employees step up and get the glory.

They admit when they are wrong

In a true sign of humility, good leaders will openly admit to being wrong and let their employee know that they were right. They are not the type that always has to be right and they are open to other perspectives. In fact, they embrace other’s ideas.

They give their team all the glory

Humble leaders take the skill of encouragement to a new level and allow their team to bask in the glory and receive all the credit.

They seek out input from others

They squash every bit of pride and not only seek out from others how they are doing but they take their critiques to heart. They have a genuine care for self-reflection and continually want to know how they are doing in their leadership role.

They are straightforward

They aren’t people pleasers and you find them sugar coating things to make themselves look better. They make decisions solely based off their values, not to lift themselves up or make others happy.

They are teachable

Humble leaders value the views of others and welcome new ideas. They ask questions and are genuinely interested in the answers. They thrive on learning from those around them.

They create a safe environment

Successful leaders are able to cultivate an environment of trust with their team. They create an atmosphere in which their employees feel safe to take risks, to fail, to come to them with concerns, and to feel confident enough to be part of major decisions.

What kind of leader are you?

These types of leaders don’t just wake up one day and find success. One common denominator is that integrity is just a part of who they are, humility comes naturally to them. If you are a self-centered and arrogant leader, you can try to fake your way to humility but eventually, those around you will find you out.

In this self-focused society, you can see how embracing humility and a genuine care for others will bring you to the top. In this ever changing and corporate world, sometimes the nice guys actually finish first.

We would love to hear your comments. Please contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

The Surprising Power of Questions

Asking the right questions can get you the answers and information that you need. However, it’s often forgotten how big of a role questioning plays in our everyday interactions. Rather it’s a conversation with your parents or with a potential client, questioning helps build the foundation of our personal and business relationships.

Get The Information You Are Looking for

The best way to get the information you are looking for is to ask for the information you seek. Questioning can help build an ongoing rapport that makes people more comfortable sharing information and ideas. This creates an environment where the exchange of ideas and information becomes regular.

The more comfortable we are with someone, the more likely we are to share information.

Asking the right questions at the right time can help establish the trust necessary for information to be exchanged.

That’s why important to know the information you’re looking for before opening up a dialogue.

Ask Open-Ended Questions

Sometimes the answers you’re looking for go beyond a simple yes or no. Knowing when to keep questions open-ended is a critical skill when it comes to questioning. The right open-ended question can help find hidden, unexpected answers that weren’t thought of before.

However, it’s also important to know when an open-ended question is less optimal. Sometimes the answers you need are either yes or no and in a negotiation, an open-ended question could lead to the other party keeping their cards close to their chest. It’s important to try and map out your conversation before you have it to try and decide what questions should be open-ended.

Know What to Ask and When to Ask it

Sequencing is one of the most important aspects of question asking. The optimal order of your questions greatly depends on the type of conversation you’re having. Studies have shown that during tense encounters, your conversational partner is more willing to open up if asked the tough questions first.

If you are trying to build a trusting relationship, your sequencing should have the opposite approach. Asking easy questions first can help build trust, making your partner more likely to open up to more difficult questions later on. It’s important to know the type of conversation you’re having so you can gauge when to ask the right questions.

Question Everything

Questions are one of the most important pieces in conversations. An environment that encourages questioning also encourages an active flow of ideas and information. Know when and how to ask the right questions and you could hold the power in conversation.

Contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.