Month: April 2021

In a world where face to face meetings have become less and less of the norm, learning to do things remotely has become more and more important. Executives have had to learn ways to lead and guide their teams from a distance. Ensuring that their junior team members don’t stop learning or growing their careers is important

Sponsoring their proteges from a distance can be challenging, but is totally doable with today’s technology. A sponsor’s job is to provide a long-term relationship to the protege and to provide support and recommend them in order to help advance their career opportunities. It has been said that a mentor talks to you and a sponsor is someone who talks about you.

Develop A Relationship

One of the biggest problems with sponsoring a protege remotely is the cliche “out of sight, out of mind”.

With all of the technology that is available today keeping in touch is easier and more convenient than ever. Staying top of mind can be accomplished with weekly video meetings. It can have advantages to ask our protege to write a one page biography of themselves.

A Sponsor may not be totally aware of all of the assets of their protege. It is much easier to promote someone you know. Someone that you have a relationship with and know all about them.

Commitment

It is important that your protege knows you are committed to see him or her become all that they can be. Knowing you are committed will encourage them to give 110%. A good way to show this is to introduce them to an executive or important client while talking up their assets.

Another way to show your commitment is to find a project that they have not been a part of and inviting them to be a part of it. That way they have greater exposure within the company. Letting them know how committed to them you are.

Give and Take

As you are remotely sponsoring your protege there is a certain amount of work, time, and energy that you must put into them, but keep in mind it is a give and take situation. A junior manager or executive with a sponsor is 21% more likely to advance in their career than a junior manager without a sponsor. It goes both ways as an executive that sponsors a protege is 53% more likely to advance in their own careers than an executive without a protege.

We would love to hear your comments on this article or any of our latest articles.

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 Professionals.

3 Tips Every Leader Should Know When Managing A Remote Team

Right now, things are different in the world than people are used to. Many people who worked at home, are now working from home with kids and other distractions at home. Then there are the ones who aren’t used to working at home, that is now remote working and trying to navigate this new work life. To say it is stressful is an understatement.

When you are the one in charge and managing a team of employees who are working remotely can be challenging as well. Without face-to-face communication, translation can sometimes get lost. Here are some simple easy tips to help when you are the leader of a remote team.

1. Communication is Key

You cannot run a business without communication, much less a remote one. People need to know what’s going on and what is expected of them. If your team is already a custom to working remotely, just talk to them from time to time and check-in.

There is so much going on now with families all home together. If they are new to this remote working lifestyle, talk to them often, make sure they are running smoothly. It doesn’t always have to be a big deal worth of communication, just send an email, text, phone call, or zoom to make sure everything is on point.

2. Make Sure They Know How Everything Works

There is nothing like going home to work where you don’t have your co-workers or leadership models to ask questions to. If you have a question about an assignment, a project, or how a system works, you don’t have those people to ask as easily when you are at home.

Some businesses work remotely no matter the state of the world, so it is important to have frequent check-in’s, in the beginning, to make sure they aren’t getting lost or behind. Same for temporary remote workers, it can be a difficult transfer. Just make sure that they have resources that they can refer to if they need help.

3. Be A Cheerleader For Them

Sometimes all someone needs is a little bit of encouragement. The simple gesture of telling them they are doing a great job and you appreciate their hard work can go a long way. When you are working from home, you can feel stress and fear of doing something incorrectly. Just dropping in every now and then to tell them how well they are doing can be all that is needed.

“Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” –Vaibhav Shah

We would love to hear your comments on this article or any of our latest articles.

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 Professionals.

Major Challenges CEOs Are Facing During The Pandemic

The pandemic of 2020 has brought a lot of stress and anxiety for people all over. People owning and running a business are absolutely no exception to that. Trying to stay afloat in a world where people are told to stay home and don’t go shopping unless absolutely necessary.

It is not easy and causes a lot of challenges for keeping a business going. There are many different things the CEO’s are facing right now during this time. Here are a few of the most common challenges that they are facing throughout this uncertain time.

When Is It Safe To Return To Work?

Many places are needing their employees to return to work to keep the business running. Then they have to think about if it is safe. Trying to keep people healthy and safe is the main priority throughout this whole thing. Places who have the ability to work from home are in a little bit better of a situation, but it is still not exactly the same.

What If Someone Tests Positive?

While it has been said people can return to work, the doors are able to be open, precautions are to be taken, you may still have concerns. As the one in charge, it can be hard to make the decisions that you need to about opening the doors.

What happens if someone tests positive? Do we close again, send everyone home, quarantine? Even if all necessary steps have been adhered to, the reality of someone testing positive is a concern. The leadership team has to be prepared for this scenario and have a plan ready to put into action.

Do What You Can To Stay Positive

In these uncertain times keeping up confidence is not an easy task. Employees have just as much stress as those in charge. They’re concerned with their health and the risk of contracting the virus and bringing it home to their families. The future of their jobs is on their minds and many other stressors.

When the morale of a company is high it has been shown over and over that production is also increased. Likewise, when morale is down, production tends to decrease as well. Being a leader is tough even when things are good, but given the current conditions leadership positions are even harder. The key to surviving the CEO world in these times is to just keep moving forward.

We would love to hear your comments on this article or any of our latest articles.

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 Professionals.

How To Spot Leaders You Can Develop

When you are hiring people or looking for someone to do a specific job. Usually, you have an idea in your head that you are looking for in the person. It also greatly depends on what you are needing them to accomplish for you.

If you are looking for someone to be a leader of a project, group of people or a department, there are some things you need to look for in that person. Being a leader is sometimes a challenging task and some are not cut out for it. Here are some things to look for in a person that could mean they are leadership material.

1. Shows Positivity

If you are around someone who is constantly negative and never sees the bright side of things, it is going to tear you down over time.

Even though the tasks of everyday life aren’t always happy and uplifting, being able to find the positive in things in order to keep the team going is important. When someone has leadership qualities, they usually show that they can turn a bad situation into a better one when needed.

2. Can Listen

If the people that they are leading don’t feel heard from them, they aren’t going to stick around. Jobs won’t be accomplished and people will be discouraged. Being able to listen to people and show them that they care about what they are saying shows that they are what it takes to be a great leader. This way the people that they are in charge of and teaching, feel that they can come to them with their concerns and needs.

3. Has Empathy

Having empathy means that you have the ability to hear someone and what they are going through. Being able to connect with people is very important when you are in a leadership position. Dealing with other people can be difficult, emotions to each person can vary greatly.

4. Is Resourceful

This is a big one. If you can’t find a way out of a bad situation, you may not be someone who would be good for a leadership position. They need the ability to find a solution to the problem that is at hand in a timely manner.

5. Possess Confidence

If someone in a leadership position is constantly doubting themself, the people under them aren’t going to be able to get things done. The person needs to be able to stand up and admit fault or figure out a way to fix the problem.

We would love to hear your comments on this article or any of our latest articles.

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 Professionals.