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Posts Tagged ‘Success’

Intentional Leadership — D3, W3, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Wednesday is work with your team day! Take some time with your team, today, to create a strategy for exceeding your customers’ expectations. Ask each person to share a brief story of a product or service experience that exceeded their expectations. Then, as a team, evaluate current expectations and satisfaction with your product or service.

First, have each person answer this question: What do our customers expect from our product or service?

Then: Are we currently meeting these expectations?

If the answer to the second question is “no,” you will first need to make changes to meet those expectations, before you can exceed them.

Next, gather ideas on how you could exceed your customers’ expectations for your organization or team going forward.

Ask: What could we do to exceed our customers’ expectations?

Then: How will we implement these ideas?

Be realistic, and pick two to three ideas you can begin to implement right away…What will they be?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W3, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today, let’s consider organizations you believe have exceeded your expectations with products or services. What did they do to impress you?

With that in mind, let’s now spend some time on a self-evaluation. Does your performance consistently go beyond what others expect of you?

On a piece of paper, make two columns. Title the left column: Top Five Responsibilities. Title the right column: Rating

Now, list your top five responsibilities in the left column — and you can do this for all the various roles you play…Leader, direct report, peer, mentor, coach, partner, or even roles you play in your personal life. Then, in the right column, rate your performance in each responsibility as Average, Above-Average, or Excellent.

Once you’ve done this exercise, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about why you rated yourself as you did in each area.

What one thing could you do right away to improve any of those rankings?

What can you do to exceed the expectations of your employees?

What can you do to exceed the expectations of your manager/leader?

Remember…your effort, in your leadership role, sets the standard for excellence in your team/organization. I encourage you to be intentional about what it will be.

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W3, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

To achieve excellence, one must consistently exceed expectations.

We’ve discussed that leaders are continuously working to improve themselves and their team’s/organization’s performance. Those who truly excel are frequently raising the bar on performance, because once you achieve a certain level, that’s the “new normal,” and you know there is something beyond…Settling for average is never an option. When you role model what you expect from others, it’s easier to influence others to perform at their best.

The next step is being ever observant of your team’s performance. When you are familiar with their strengths and abilities, you will be able to quickly recognize when they are not performing at level of their true capability. This is when it’s important for you to connect, provide feedback, discover what’s happening, and inspire your team to perform at higher levels.

Again, people do what people see, so if you aren’t performing at the top of your ability, others will notice and will fall into line with where you are. So, be sure to look within before you comment on what’s happening around you.

Over the course of my career, I have lead a number of projects and project teams — typically comprised of people I had no formal authority over, and yet, the projects we worked on were of high importance to the various organizations we worked for. Before I learned the lesson that I could accomplish more by connecting with and including others, I used to take on a lot of responsibility and completed all the work myself. So, my big lesson was learning to delegate and rely on others to do their part. The benefit from learning project management from this approach was that I have always been a working leader, for lack of a better term; not just the person who doled out a lot of work and waited for others to perform.

As part of the project team, I take on my share of the responsibilities, and hold myself to higher standards, usually, than I do for those around me. So, modeling what I expect from others has come easily for me. I have been told, on occasion, that my expectations for others are extremely high…and I admit it’s true. In part, it’s because I want to be successful; I want those I work with to be successful; I want the project to be successful; and, I see the potential in others, which leads me to believe they can achieve at higher levels.

What are your challenges in this area?

What can you do to set the tone for an organizational culture that exceeds expectations — one in which people are driven to achieve at ever-higher levels?

How are you modeling exceeding expectations? Remember, as John Maxwell says in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,

People do what people see!

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W2, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Good morning and Happy Friday!

As my mentor, Paul Martinelli, would say: “Are you marinating in excellence, yet?” As with all things of value, we must immerse ourselves in the concepts we wish to master. Nothing of significance or lasting value happens overnight…so let us steep ourselves in these thoughts, ideas, and concepts this month

As I consider excellence, I am working on following up with people in a more timely manner, demonstrating my desire and commitment to serve others, and delivering exceptional value, every time. What about you? Where can you intentionally inject excellence into your performance?

I am coming to find this Friday ritual of thinking about and planning for my weekend, and the weeks ahead, more and more valuable each week. I am getting busier, meeting and connecting with a lot of new people, and my need to be focused and prepared is more and more critical to my success.

What really needs your attention this weekend? Is it projects, people, rest, relaxation…?

Rest? Definitely! We’ve been dealing with a lack of sleep at my house, caused by the annoying cough that is going around. You know the one, it surfaces mainly at night when you lay down to sleep…and so far, we have failed to find a cough suppressant that actually works!

Preparation for a Women in Leadership Luncheon I am helping to plan, and will present the Keynote speech at, in May. Along with my speech, I need to pull together a personal assessment tool that goes along with our theme: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (based on the best seller by Marshall Goldsmith; if you haven’t read it and you are pursuing growth in your career, it’s a must read. In fact, don’t just read it — buy it and keep it handy! This one will serve you over and over and over…if you are open to the lessons and willing to do the work to apply them!). And, I need to do some work to prepare some amazing women for the panel discussion that will happen as part of this day of growth and learning.

I also need to get some exercise. My son and I enjoy our weekend neighborhood walks.

And, I’m still working on the new mentoring program I will launch in May. You can get a preview here.

What’s in store for you this weekend, next week, and in the coming weeks? Are you taking the steps to set yourself up for success and fulfillment?

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

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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 — 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 — D5, W1, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Good morning and Happy Friday! How was this, our first week in Month Three, focused on Excellence?

As has been the case for the last three weeks, my week has flown by. Yes, I have been much busier; working with some new coaching and mentoring clients, working on a couple of other projects, and preparing for a speaking engagement today through my local Chamber of Commerce. Also, tonight, I will finish a Mastermind Group I’ve been facilitating, with a group of supervisors in a manufacturing facility.

We’ve been studying and discussing John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Tonight we will go through Chapter 21 — The Law of Legacy. Essentially, the message is that when you get to the end of your life, people will describe your life with one sentence, so you should choose it now — and embody that message, whatever it is that you want to be remembered for, to truly live each day as that person. It will be another busy day.

But I digress! Shall we move forward with what’s become our Friday ritual? Are you in the habit of thinking about and preparing for your weekend ahead of time, yet?

What really needs your attention this weekend? Is it projects, people, rest, relaxation…?

All of the above, for me, as usual, but perhaps in different measures than in previous weeks.

And I do need to spend some time really thinking about and planning for the next few weeks. There are some significant events coming my way in May, and I have a lot of work to do to ensure I am fully prepared. I’m getting ready to launch a new mentoring program, so there’s some “back office” work to do for that.

What thoughts do you have about the level of quality of your products and services, after this week’s exercises?

What’s in store for you this weekend, next week, and in the coming weeks? Are you taking the steps to set yourself up for success and fulfillment?

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

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Work-Life Balance is a fallacy!

Posted in Food for Thought, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you work full time, you are likely all too aware that there is no such thing as “work-life balance.” It’s a fallacy, a lie, an illusion, a figment of someone’s overactive imagination, a blatant untruth! Balance implies some equality on each side of the scale, some level of fairness of the elements being measured.

Think about it. We all have 24 hours a day. We sleep 7-8 hours. We are at work, typically, between 8-10 hours each day. What about your commute time? Maybe 30 minutes round trip, possibly even an hour? So far, that’s about 15.5 hours on the short end and up to 19 hours on the long end of the range.

What about time to eat, exercise, run errands, read, reflect, play… Time for extra-curricular activities — either your children’s or your own — volunteering, sitting on a Board for another organization, taking classes…

Don’t forget about time for your family! Yep, that’s the important one, isn’t it? We all say family is our highest priority and yet they are often the people who get our leftovers in terms of time and energy.

We’d like to think we could have it all, but we know it’s not possible. Even the influential and powerful discover this — if they are lucky! Read this story about Erin Callan, former CFO of Lehman Brothers, as she discusses the sacrifices she made in terms of her marriage and family in exchange for the prestige, power, and money afforded by her position. Was it really worth it?

What if you were introduced to an entirely different concept: Mastery of the art of living. Try this on for size:

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both. — LP Jacks

What if you could master the art of living? It’s possible, you know? It’s not effortless, but wouldn’t it be worth it?

The key is (is this familiar?) having a high level of self-awareness — understanding your values, priorities, and dreams — and intentionality — deliberately making decisions and taking steps that lead you to the place you long to be, honoring your values daily.

My recommendation…find a mentor or a coach who has been along this path before you and enlist their support in your quest.

Let me know how I can help…before it’s too late.

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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 — D1, W1, M3 — Excellence

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If we begin with the premise that excellence requires superior quality, first we must define what that means…to ourselves and to our customers — both existing and potential, and for each of us this may be very different.

For me, it requires ongoing education and keeping up with the latest developments and thought-leaders in the areas of personal growth, leadership development, team building, and communications. It means being solely focused on the success of my clients. It means being an outstanding listener — which we all know is an active process, requiring my undivided attention and ability to tune out my own thoughts as I listen to what my clients need to discuss. It means functioning intuitively and perceptively to discern what the true issues and challenges are that my clients face. All of these things will allow me to tune-in to my clients and really understand their unique needs. Then I must be able to tailor what I have to offer to be able to actually help them move through, around, or past these obstacles and challenges to perform at higher levels and achieve their goals.

There are a lot of other factors at play here, other actions I need to take, other behaviors I need to demonstrate, as you can imagine. But for purposes of getting your thinking started, I think this is a good beginning place. Clearly, your inputs and outputs are likely very different than mine, but the thought processes around what excellence means and how you demonstrate it are the same.

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. — Vince Lombardi

What edge could your organization gain by committing to, and delivering, superior quality…at a level higher than that of your competitors?

In what areas are you already known for superior quality — at your team’s level or for that of your entire organization?

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