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Posts Tagged ‘Communication’

Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Please forgive me, faithful readers, for being so late with today’s post. I allowed myself to “unplug” over a long weekend, and didn’t think to take my material with me for today. I apologize! That said, let’s get started with Week Four of Excellence.

Excellence is doing small things in a big way!

If you had the chance to interview successful leaders, any number of them, I’m confident they will tell you they have developed and follow habits, systems, and processes daily, regardless of what they are working on, and excellence is no different.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.   ~Booker T Washington

I am reminded of stories of moms and dads who take the time to write personalized notes and slip them into their children’s lunches every day. Very thoughtful! It takes time, energy, and discipline to maintain this kind of schedule five days a week; but any child who has been on the receiving end of this practice will tell you what an enormous difference it makes in their life!

I am reminded of the time I participated in a FranklinCovey workshop called Focus — all about setting priorities and making our time intentionally productive. The facilitator shared that he flew a lot, facilitating classes all around the country. He said that on one particular flight, the Pilot took the time to write a note (on the back of her business cards) to each passenger flying first class, thanking them for choosing that particular airline and trusting her and her crew to get them to their destination safely. He spoke with her about it, because he was very impressed she had taken the time to do it. She explained that she felt blessed to have her job and wanted her passengers to know this. Because during flight we are often on aut0-pilot, she had a lot of time during a flight that she could choose how to spend, and she chose to spend her time connecting with others.

I am reminded of my mother. She was a server in coffee shops for decades. On occasion, she would leave one restaurant and take a job in another. Consistently, her customers followed her from one place to another. Turns out their loyalty was to her, not the restaurant! I was too young at the time to ask any of these people why they followed her, but clearly they valued something she offered…attitude, service…I can only guess, but clearly she was doing something with excellence!

Each of these people put their “signature” on what they did, focusing on excellence. Today, think of ways you can put your personal signature on what you do, by modeling excellence.

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W2, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As you’re aware, nothing of significance happens overnight; this is true with excellence, as well. Internalizing excellence, and truly embedding it in everything you do in your business takes time, effort, and intentionality.

What are some ways you could motivate, inspire, encourage your employees to further its commitment to excellence?

Sharing some examples of excellence in practice may be helpful. What organizations or leaders do you know who are well-known for demonstrating excellence either in their products, their services, or both? What do they do within their organizations to keep excellence top of mind? Who could you contact to learn more about how others do it?

Once you’ve done that, what have you learned, and how can you put those lessons into play in your organization in a meaningful way that fits your culture?

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W2, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on March 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Now that we’re really thinking about excellence within our teams and organizations, let’s broaden our circle and expand our perspective by learning what it means to others.

Spend some time with your team today and ask them to describe what excellence looks like in each of their respective roles. Then, ask each one for two concrete ways to measure excellence within his/her performance. You might be surprised with what they come up with; often times, we will set much higher standards for ourselves than someone else will.

Now, take some time during your regular meetings (Weekly? Monthly? What’s your frequency for team meetings?) to review how everyone is progressing.

It’s important that you recognize and reinforce the behaviors and level of performance you want from your team members, so be sure to ask them what comments and actions will be positive reinforcement for them; what would they like to hear when you notice they’re doing an excellent job?

Write down the comments so you will remember them…and be sure to use them at all the appropriate times. Feedback is critical, and more effective when it’s personal, timely, and specific.

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W2, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , on March 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Have you given much thought to your values? Or, let me refocus that — how much thought have you given to your team’s or organization’s values? If I asked you to list them for me, could you write them down? What do you think the list would look like if we had the rest of your team, or the key leaders in your organization, write down what they think your values are?

It’s important that you can articulate them clearly, and even better if you are all on the same page in this respect.

The next — and very critical — step is to live and embody your values in every area of your business. Meaning, effective leaders driving healthy, smart organizations ensure values are the foundation of hiring decisions, strategic and tactical decision making, and even daily operations.

In order to move on, I encourage you to create two columns: One outlining your team’s/organization’s current values; one providing an example of how each value is being consistently demonstrated within your organization/team.

Is excellence on your list?

If not, would you benefit from including it?

Or, how do you ensure that excellence is the measure for how you embody the other values on your list?

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W2, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Leaders have a number of qualities and traits in common, regardless of where they are from, where they are currently, what kind of business or industry they work in, or what level of the organization they are in…and two of those common traits are discontent and passion. They are discontent when it comes to their performance. Leaders are rarely satisfied with how things are because they know they can do better. They are passionate about excellence. Couple these two traits and you find someone who is driven to excel. Leaders are alway thinking about and working on improving their personal performance and that of their teams and organizations.

Think about an organization that stands out in your mind as being outstanding. What are the things that come to mind that leave you with the impression they are superior?

Customer service?

Superior products or services?

Price?

Where do you think it starts? I think it starts with finding the right people for the right positions, who are also passionate about whatever it is your company provides. Often times, companies feel pressured to fill vacant positions and they rush through the screening and hiring process. Sometimes they get lucky and find a skilled candidate who also fits with the culture. Sometimes they settle for a candidate who has the skill but doesn’t really fit the culture. This is a recipe for disaster in a lot of ways.

But lets focus on finding the right candidate — both skilled in the work and a good fit for the culture. These are the folks who share your values and are committed to your vision. If you treat them well and ensure they have the support and resources they need to do their jobs, they will take great care of your business and your customers. It’s an intentional process; it doesn’t just happen.

As a leader, what standards are you setting for your team, with respect to excellence?

What kind of a role model are you for your team or organization?

What are you doing to inspire them to internalize excellence as a value?

What can you do to create a culture of excellence in your workplace?

Remember, excellence is intentional; it doesn’t just happen!

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W1, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on March 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As we have in the past, today we will survey others about our month’s topic. Typically, one would survey external customers about their perception of the quality your team or organization offers. Instead, let’s start a little closer to home.

Today, I encourage you to speak with three people within your team or organization and ask them a few questions about your products/services/customers.

Start with these:

Are we providing the best possible product/service to our customers?

Is our product/service worth the price we put on it?

What can we do to better serve our customers?

What impression do we make on our customers?

What should I know about how we interact with our customers, that I’m not aware of?

What questions should I have asked you that I didn’t?

If you can approach this with a genuine desire to know the truth, and truly listen to what your team members tell you, you may gather some invaluable information that can help you improve your offerings to your customers.

What responses did you receive and what did you learn?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W1, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on March 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you talk with or listen to me for any length of time, you will hear me say this: The two keys to success are self-awareness and intentionality.

As we focus on excellence, these two keys are still important. Achieving superior quality requires your commitment, intentionality, strategy, and hard work.

What does your team/organization produce or provide?

What thought have you given to the “Five P’s of Marketing”: Product (goods or services you provide), Price (profit and competitors), Promotion (communications), People (employees), Place (channels of distribution). Get out a piece of paper and make three columns. This first is your Five Ps, the middle column is your Existing Strategy, and the third column is your Focus on Excellence.

Now, go through each item and summarize your effort in each area with respect each of the Five P’s. Reflect on your current situation in each area and what you could do to move further into excellence.

As you know, we can focus on only a few things at a time, and do them well. So, pick a couple of your P’s and really dive into what you can start doing or do differently to really move those facets of your business into Excellence.

What changes will have to take place within you to move to that next level?

You see, you are the driver, and where you’re at internally will permeate where you are with your team/organization. So be clear with yourself, so you can be clear with them, as well, and you can then move forward together into Excellence.

Back to self-awareness and intentionality.

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Intentional Leadership — Month Three — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on March 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Beginning tomorrow, we will begin Month Three of our Intentional Leadership journey, focused on excellence. According to Merriam-Webster, excellence is the state of being excellent — superior, first class.

In practice, it is the difference between average and exceptional. It is the ability to not only meet, but to exceed, the needs of your customers (both internal and external), consistently delivering superior quality in whatever services or products you provide. This is how you — as an individual or an organization — stand out from the competition. But it doesn’t stop there. Truly excellent performers understand they must embrace a continuous improvement mindset, knowing that excellence is not a destination!

Think for a minute about organizations you would classify as excellent; there is likely one in at least each category of business and industry. In the hotel industry, it’s long been the Ritz Carlton. They strive to give every customer a “Wow” experience every time; pampering customers more than they could have possibly imagined. If you think about it, this philosophy requires everyone in the organization to be in top form at all times, thinking about what more they can do to out-do what they are already doing. It’s an on-going quest, requiring creativity, consideration, intentionality, and close attention to the wants, needs,  and desires of its customers, as well as staying in-tune with the changing of the times in terms of tastes and preferences of luxury travelers.

As we prepare for this next leg of our journey, take a little time to consider these questions:

What level of excellence do you/your organization provides today?

How can you improve the level of customer service you/your organization provides today?

In what areas of your business do you need to be continuously improving to succeed?

How do your team members define and demonstrate excellence in your organization? Does their definition of excellence match yours?

This will be another revealing month of exercises, if you are willing to truly dive deep and examine your thinking and behaviors.

“See” you tomorrow.

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Intentional Leadership — M2 Relationships — Review

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

We’ve just spent the last four weeks focusing on relationships and the critical role they play in our success as leaders. As the poet John Donne said, “No man is an island entire of itself; every an is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

Each and every one of us is a piece of a bigger whole. While we might like to think we can do it all ourselves, we cannot. And it leads to a very isolated and lonely existence. I speak from experience here, as I think I’ve shared in previous blogs. I used to believe I could be “Superwoman” and do it all myself…but it’s exhausting, disheartening, and discouraging. The results were never as good as they would have been had I involved others. And I often found myself feeling resentful of others for not stepping up and doing their part; why would they, when I made it clear I didn’t need or want them!

We do not live in isolation, but in relationship to others. Real connections with others offer joy and give our lives meaning. They push us to be better than we would be alone, to reach greater heights than we could ever climb alone. Rich and lasting relationships require time, commitment, and self-sacrifice, but their benefits more than compensate for the investment.

If you take some time to think about leaders you respect, you’ll realize they have built rich “relational” bank accounts; they have developed strong relationships with a variety of people and get energy and sustenance from them. When you truly invest in others and nurture your relationships over time, they are sometimes the only stable, consistent thing you can count on in uncertain times.

In fact, when times get tough, experience, hard work, and talent alone will not save you. If you need any kind of external support — a job, money, advice, hope, mentoring, help, or even a client…your extended circle of friends and associates will be the place to turn to meet those needs. However, if you have not invested in relationships, you may find yourself standing alone.

My questions to you are these:

What did you learn about yourself with respect to relationships over the course of this past month?

What are you doing differently as a result?

How are your relationships changing as a result of your taking different actions and demonstrating different behaviors?

How different are your results, with this new perspective?

What will you do to intentionally invest in the lives of others?

On Monday, we will move into Month 3 of this Intentional Leadership Journey, focusing on Excellence. Again, I am sharing this with you as I walk through this same journey, based on the Intentional Leadership booklet I received through the Chick-fil-A Leadercast (created by Giant Impact) that I attended in May 2012.

Let me know how this journey is changing your thinking and your performance.

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M2 — Relationships

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Here we are, come to the end of another week, that to me feels like it has flown past — again! It’s a sign I’m getting busier, which is good. But I need to remain aware of whether I’m spending my “busy” time simply being busy or actually productive. This weekend will be a good time for me to reflect on that, and redirect — if need be — my efforts next week…a slight course correction, if you will.

Right now, though, let’s focus on the weekend. Are you ready? Have you gotten into the habit of thinking about it and preparing for it ahead of time, yet?

What relationships do you need to nurture this weekend?

I need to spend more time with my husband.

Are there new relationships you would like to initiate?

I do have some new connections I want to make and will give some thought this weekend to how best to initiate them.

What do you need to do to focus on and nurture yourself this weekend?

A bit of alone time. I’m working on my “I have a Dream” speech assignment; it’s part of the Deeper Path Coaching Cohort I’m working my way through. I will be reading my Dream speech to my fellow travelers on the Path…It will be an interesting experience. I’ve carried so many of these thoughts around with me for a long time, but rarely verbalize them to others.

How much rest do you need this weekend?

How much – and what kind of – activity do you need?

What loose ends do you need to tie up from this week?

What do you need to do to prepare yourself for a great start to next week, preparing for Monday?

Finally, what thought are you giving to things you have planned or need to prepare for or complete in the coming months?

On Monday, we begin month three —  focus on Excellence. More thoughts on this over the weekend.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you soon!

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