Monthly Archives: April 2017

become more effective as a leader

LEADING FROM STRENGTH

HOW TO BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE AS A LEADER BY USING YOUR STRENGTHS

 

A key responsibility of a leader and manager is to get results through people. The more effective the leader and manager is with people, the better the results will be.

 

Using your strengths to improve how you lead and manage people makes more sense than trying to compensate for your weaknesses. We all have strengths and weaknesses relative to our type and personality.

 

 

The first step is to know yourself and understand your strengths and weaknesses. A strength can be effective in certain situations and become a weakness in others.

 

I know through self-discovery that I like to direct things and influence others. This can be a strength when providing direction, setting goals and selling my ideas to others.

 

But it can also be a weakness when I become too forceful and do not show openness to the other person’s point of view. I experienced this in a meeting yesterday where the financial person was against spending money on a project. The project had already been approved by the team and the president of the organization but the financial person was against it because of a lowered revenue forecast.

 

The financial person was simply stating what he thought and I thought he was trying to stop the project moving forward. This caused some conflict and created a tense feeling in the meeting. Later, I thought back and understood that all he was doing was stating his opinion and not trying to hold things back.

 

In a team environment like this when people know each other and understand the strength to person brings based on their type and personality, they can remind each other when they see the strength becoming a weakness.

 

In my last article and video, I talked about borrowing a trait from another type to become more balanced as a leader. So, in my example I would need to recall practicing more empathy and understanding of someone else’s opinion. This would’ve eased the conflict and avoided an argument.

 

Leading from strengths requires ongoing personal development and deepening our self-knowledge.

How to discover your strengths

There are many ways to discover your strengths. You can use psychometric and behavioral assessments like the ProfileXT. The book CRAZYZOO, KNOW THYSELF MADE EASY is a great way to discover your type and recognize your strengths as well as your fears.

 

Our fears are what turns our strengths into weaknesses. In the example I gave my fear of ineffectiveness pushed me to overuse my strength of dominance and influence. Thus, I became pushy and intolerant of the opinion of the financial person.

Become conscious

Once you know your strengths you need to be conscious of when you are using your strengths effectively and when it is becoming a weakness. When your overuse your strength, you need to borrow a quality of another type of person to be balanced and remain effective. This does take effort.

Continuous development

Leading from strengths requires ongoing personal development and deepening our self-knowledge. Using this knowledge to balance ourselves is the sign of a strong and progressive minded highly effective leader.

 

employee coaching session

Conducting an Employee Coaching Session to Delegate New Responsibilities

Coaching an employee entails developing their skills and talents so they can continue to grow and take on new responsibilities. This is a win-win for both the employee and the manager. The employee learns new tasks and thus can bring more value to the organization. The manager can delegate new tasks and responsibilities to the employee so he/she can work on new projects and strategic development.

 

Watch this Live Example of an Employee Coaching Session

 

 

In this video, I conduct a real life coaching session with my assistant Sonia to delegate new tasks and responsibilities. My goal is to advance on projects that I have in mind but not enough time to do on my own.

 

In the video, I am using a job description that needs to be updated. This provides a tool to put what was agreed in writing and make sure tasks and responsibilities are clear. I refer to a previous video and article on writing a job description.

 

I also mention a video on using a win-win agreement to manager performance. The win-win agreement expands beyond the scope of a job description.

 

balanced

Becoming Balanced as a Leader

Improve your leadership effectiveness in various situations and with different types of people

 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could act most effectively to any situation or person? This means adjusting your emotional response and communication style accordingly.

 

This is what becoming balanced as a leader or person really means. If you as a person are truly balanced then you are showing great personal leadership. Here is how to do it.

What I mean by balanced? I mean balance your qualities by borrowing from another type of person.

Types of People. What is type? Why borrow qualities?

The expression he or she is not my type is quite common and that is true for everyone. It’s because we are all so unique that no two people can be the exact same type or have the same personality. But we can be very similar in our type and this is worth knowing to be come better balanced.

 

Here is an example. My tendency as a leader and coach with my staff and clients is to be directive and task oriented, even though I enjoy working with and helping people. I tend to focus on task accomplishment and getting things done rather than how people are feeling. This is not always the most effective approach when it comes to building trust and showing understanding and compassion.

 

My partner is different in that she has tremendous compassion and displays a deep empathy for people so they feel very comfortable with her and easily share their problems. She is a psychologist so this works well for her.

 

I coach people in the workplace and they are concerned often with achievement, which suits my style well. However, if I focus too much on achievement and the related tasks, this does not always work well with every type of person.

 

So now when I go into a coaching situation I’d think of my partner and how she would approach the situation and the people. This helps me to recall the importance of listening with empathy and showing I understand not just their problem but the way they feel about.

 

becoming balanced as a leaderSo, without even knowing about types, you could detect the key qualities of people at work with complementary qualities. What is their key strength, their key quality and in what situations would it be beneficial for you to use that?

 

Another example is my former partner Fritz who was a planner type and his strength was as the name implies planning. Not only was it planning but it was understanding the truth behind things, so he would spend a lot of time researching, thinking things through and strategizing. I on the other hand tend to like action and don’t have the same patience to strategize and plan as he did.

 

So, when I’m faced with a situation that requires an in-depth plan and strategy, I think of Fritz and how he would approach the situation. I try and emulate his qualities.

 

Begin to admire those qualities and think about what situations those qualities could be useful for you.

 

becoming balanced as a leaderThere are six classic types and each one has specific qualities.  You could learn about that through Fritz’s book, What Type of Person am I? CrazYZoo! KNOW-THYSELF Made Easy.

 

In his book and our related training programs on leadership and team development, we suggest that people borrow the qualities of another type that is complimentary to their own. This way in situations that calls for an adjustment in style of communication, one can more easily recall the quality or behaviour to borrow from the other type.

 

Begin to admire those qualities and think about what situations those qualities could be useful for you. Bring forth that quality into a situation where you could use it to be more effective.

 

While this is easy to say, it is not always easy to do. Our tendency is to default to our most accustomed behaviour and so it is quite challenging to be balanced all the time. It is most difficult when we are stressed and resort to our habitual way of responding.

 

Becoming balanced as a leader is about using the right style of leadership for the person and situation. Understanding others, appreciating their qualities and being able to borrow those qualities in the moment is what will make you a truly effective balanced leader.