A successful coach isn’t always a game-winning coach. I’ve seen evidence of this up-close in all of my experience coaching youth sports, where our team might lose but each individual child comes out of the game with more experience, focus, and positivity.
As a youth sports coach, this was always my goal: help each child feel like a winner, no matter what the scoreboard says. Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve played twelve sports, coached eight sports, and officiated nine sports. I’ve also been a spectator and a parent of a youth player.
My diverse sports background has taught me the importance of helping people find the untapped potential within themselves. I’ve also discovered the power of communicating in a clear, simple way that resonates with a wide variety of people: children, parents, youth coaches, spectators, and referees.
Just like in youth sports, business professionals appreciate having complex concepts boiled down into basic terms. When I was a youth coach, I created something called: The MODEL Coach Concept which I now see how applicable it is to business and aligns with EOS®
How Coaching Sports and Business Overlap
The MODEL Coach Concept
This concept has five main elements:
Mentally Prepares
Organizes
Develops Every Player
Encourages
Leads by Example
As you understand more about what each part of this concept means, you’ll see many parallels for business.
First, a coach must mentally prepare, which means they must have the right mentality for every game, every day, and every winning moment. The same goes for every leader. Successful leaders apply the EOS Five Leadership Abilities to help them mentally prepare: Simplify, Delegate (and Elevate), Predict, Systemize, and Structure.
They must also have the organization it takes to get the most out of every coaching moment with the team. The overall EOS Process provides a variety of organization benefits through mastery of the EOS Toolbox Tools with a space learning approach. My favorite tool is the Issues Solving Track — a simplified approach to continuous improvement.
A great coach is focused on the development of every player, despite the fact that players develop and mature at various rates. The same goes for leaders living the EOS Process. It is hard to predict which team member has the most undeveloped talent. Work on clarifying expectations and challenging all team members to develop their natural talents, nurturing and coaching them along their journey.
A big dose of encouragement goes a long way too. Coaches must find ways to encourage and acknowledge players in a positive and productive way. Strong leaders apply the 24-hour rule when observing both desired and undesired behaviors with their team members. The observations are expressed within 24-hours of them occurring. This especially comes into play for the Core Values that warrant ongoing attention and appropriate reinforcement.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there’s leadership by example. A coach sets the tone for everything that happens and this requires a huge amount of leadership, consistency, and follow-through on your promises. This is a direct correlation to the EOS tool, LMA (Leadership, Management, and Accountability), which also ties in nicely with the Five Leadership Abilities mentioned previously.
Envision Success and Focus on Small Things
Whether you’re gearing up for the big game or preparing for a business project, take some time to envision the future. Instead of just focusing on the win, focus on the things that are within your control – what you’ll win, even if you’re on the losing side. There can be periods of time a business is failing or struggling to hit its goals. Within the EOS Process, the Vision/Traction Organizer does a spectacular job simplifying the vision and goals of a business. This provides all team members with an opportunity to discover how they contribute to the success of the business, even in challenging times.
Now I know this sounds odd. Why would we focus on what we can control even while we’re losing?
When I coached football, I taught the players to envision scoring a touchdown. As they practiced the plays and made the movements on the field toward the end zone, they could focus on the amazing feeling of reaching it.
This is a way of building the muscle memory it takes to accomplish a goal. If you build a clear mental vision of what it takes to succeed, your mind and body are primed to get there. That’s so much more productive than simply listening to a coach drown on and on or watching other players run down the field. It’s also much more productive than always focusing on winning the big game.
Just like working as a team toward business goals, when muscle memory is built, everyone is more apt to attain goals for themselves and the collective organization as a whole. The second page of the Vision/Traction Organizer (Traction page), focuses on the shorter-term goals for the year, priorities for the current quarter, and sets aside certain issues for future consideration in the Issues List. It is just as important to know what is to be focused on, as well as what is not to focus on!
The EOS® Connection
In business, if you’re a leader and you don’t know what success looks like for your team, you won’t get there. You won’t know what you want from your team and they won’t know what you want from them.
Learn more about Dan’s work and the Entrepreneurial Operating System now!
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By: Dan Sedor, Strategic Growth Advisor & Certified EOS Implementer® at Leadership Resources
Right now it seems that everybody is focused on COVID-19 and the negative impact it’s having on their businesses. Instead, I think we need to treat this pandemic like we’re coaching a youth sports team. Let’s make a game out of it.
I’m not suggesting we literally treat the current situation like a game. Businesses are struggling, family members are sick, and people are worried about their jobs.
Here’s what I mean, instead: when business owners and employees get so bogged down by negativity, the business is at greater and greater risk of being destroyed by the current crisis.The reality is, before this pandemic, there were always unforeseen issues that could cause a company to stumble. We always lost key people at key moments. We always had high expectations for projects and processes that didn’t pan out.
And let’s remember that our competitors have always done things to wear us down, distract us, push us to make things too complex, and cause us to lose market share. The point I’m trying to make here is that it might be a “novel coronavirus,” but it’s not a novel situation. We’ve always had extremely tough barriers to success.
How Coaching Sports Helps Handle Crisis
1. Focus on What You Control & Your Desired Outcomes
In my personal experience as a football coach of a team of nine and ten-year-olds, my job is to focus on what’s within my team’s control and help the kids focus on what’s within their control individually. The competition is always there to beat you and the environment in which you’re playing may at times feel unfair.
What can you personally do about it?
Ultimately, we’ve always made a game out of it. And while everyone wants to win, what’s most important is the path you take to get there. Each individual must stay absolutely focused on what’s within your control and what can be changed in order to reach the desired outcome.
For example, think about the opposing team on the football field. You can’t control any individual opponent and you can’t control exactly how the ball is going to go down the field on every play. As the game progresses, you don’t know if the other team is going to blitz on one side of the defensive line or another.
What’s within your control is making sound decisions and quickly adapting to whatever happens.
2. Build Systems of Flexibility
Just as in youth sports, this pandemic is going to cause us to lose some yardage on one play and gain some yardage on others. Some weeks are going to be extremely tough and discouraging.
But it’s our job to stay flexible and outfox the situation as much as possible.
Now is not the time to give up! So let’s make a game out of this. The pandemic is merely exposing gaps in our business processes, marketing strategies, and within our teams. Let’s think like youth sports coaches and find new ways to stay nimble and positive as we pursue advantageous solutions.
Some of my clients using EOS® are having record quarters right now. They even feel guilty about it because the pandemic is affecting so many people so harshly, yet their company is flourishing.
I also have clients who have lost 60% of their revenue from major sources. What a huge blow. But I’m happy to say that these companies are taking steps to learn from all this and come out on the other side better, stronger, and more prepared for whatever is to come in the future.
3. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
We owe it to our teams to simplify things for them during a time of panic and confusion. They need us to boil things down to simple business concepts that will allow them to maintain their focus. During this pandemic, take a moment to marvel at how complicated your company’s goals have become and take the opportunity to hone your messages into simpler concepts your team can grasp right now.
Coach, your team is feeling overwhelmed. So what’s truly important?
Look to your company’s core values and focus on values that fit into categories such as teamwork, determination, collaboration, and positivity. Allow those core values to bolster your confidence during this time of global crisis.
Let’s make a game out of it. We can win by taking this pandemic one play at a time and showing some good sportsmanship. Now’s the time to tap into your competitive side, play a strong game, and refuse to be broken no matter what the scoreboard says.
About Dan Sedor
Dan Sedor is a Strategic Growth Advisor and Certified EOS Implementer™, as well as a founding partner at Leadership Resources. Dan is also the author of the book, “Model Coach” available on Amazon and utilizes the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS®) and customized strategic planning to help clients gain traction and grow their business. Dan is active in the community and enjoys coaching youth sports, attending country music festivals, and spending time with family.
Learn more about Dan’s work and the Entrepreneurial Operating System now!
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The business landscape has been rapidly evolving since the advent of high-speed internet, video conference platforms, and other technologies. And as the world economy becomes more connected, companies face new challenges and opportunities when it comes to hiring and retaining talent, developing future leaders, keeping teams together, and streamlining operations. The Entrepreneurial Operation System (EOS)® aims to help businesses and individuals achieve their goals amidst an ever-changing world with a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools aimed at strengthening the vision, cohesiveness, and overall health of teams.
The Benefits of Implementing EOS for Your Business
1. Keeping Teams on the Same Page Even When Separated Physically
When working remotely, leaders must employ specific team management methods to keep everyone on track. Without a solid framework, coherent goals, or established processes, this can be a major challenge. This is where Traction®, one of the Six Key Components™ outlined in the EOS Model™, comes into play. Traction focuses on taking tangible steps to execute shared goals via regular meetings at specific intervals. In other words, the principles of Traction negate the importance of physical distance — as long as everyone can clearly communicate, the company’s vision can be realized.
2. Maintaining Accountability Remotely
Traction (and all of EOS) is also about accountability and performance management. Again, physical separation can make it difficult for team members to keep tabs on one another. But by implementing the EOS Process® virtually for your business, you can maintain accountability in your teams no matter where they may be. For instance, a virtual Focus Day™ is designated to give your leaders tools to clarify roles and priorities within your organization, as well as resolve lingering issues and improve communication overall. Leaders then use what they have learned over the next 30 days to track tangible improvement.
3. Cultivating an Adaptable Company Culture
Organizations must retain some flexibility to respond and adapt to whatever changes occur in the world and within their industry. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced several businesses to shift their operations partially or completely online. No one knows when or even if things will return to the way they were prior to this global event. The “Quarterly Pulsing” of the EOS Process, which refer to sessions every 90 days to evaluate performance, reset priorities, resolve issues, etc., help create a dynamic, adaptable company culture that is strong enough to weather major external changes but also willing and able to change itself to benefit the organization as a whole.
4. Entering a Global Network of Entrepreneurs
Effective leadership development takes place both within an organization and outside of it. To truly grow as a leader, one must venture outside of their company and experience different places and opportunities, meet new people, and build a network of like-minded individuals. One of the distinct advantages of implementing EOS for your business is that it opens you up a global network of entrepreneurs. Normally, EOS hosts in-person conferences for people to meet and mingle. Of course, during these unprecedented times, these physical meetings are not viable. As a result, EOS has increased its output of webinars and even changed their conference to a virtual one so leaders around the globe can still share ideas and grow together without being in the same location.
If your organization has been struggling to reach its short- and long-term goals, implementing EOS can help get you back on course. And now, as businesses are encouraged to operate remotely if possible, the tools and principles of EOS are especially worth investing in to keep your people on the same page, your business ahead of the curve, and continuing to develop your leaders.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how we can help your business succeed and grow.
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Your top talent is highly valuable, and therefore also in high demand by other organizations. In this competitive global economy, landing quality people can be challenging in and of itself — keeping them around can be even more difficult. And considering that your company’s potential is directly tied to the potential and performance of its people, you cannot afford to let your top talent slip away.
In our previous post, “How to Keep Top Talent from Leaving Your Company,” we discussed how recruitment, company culture, regular feedback, competitive benefits, and leadership development all contribute to employee retention. Here we’ll further explore how long-term leadership development in particular can help you keep your best talent.
How Leadership Development Keeps Your Best Employees
The Power of Recognition
Effective employee management and leadership development requires plenty of feedback, which should include a healthy mixture of positive recognition and constructive criticism. And while every member of your organization should receive this regular feedback, it is especially important to maintain consistent communication with your best talent. Recognizing your top talent for their input and achievements and pointing out areas of improvement will simultaneously help them further develop their leadership skills while conveying their value to the company. When your people feel valued, they are more likely to stick around.
New Opportunities Energize Employees
There are many ways to develop the leadership potential of your top talent. In-person and online seminars, group training activities, and one-on-one meetings are all part of this equation, but real-world experience is often the most potent form of leadership development. By empowering your top talent to take on new roles and responsibilities, you help them gain crucial insights that are applicable to your organization and at large. This experiential leadership development opens doors for your best talent and lets them know that even more opportunities await if they continue to grow with the company.
Finding the Right Fit for One’s Skills
Long term succession planning is a major focus of all forward-thinking businesses. And a solid plan for the future depends on the advancement of top talent within your organization. Put another way, you need capable leaders at the ready to fill new roles and to take over existing ones when the time is right. Implementing effective leadership development programs not only prepares your top talent for these new positions — it also helps your company find the right positions for the right people. Indeed, employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they feel properly suited for their role and valued for their unique abilities. In other words, as you develop your top talent into strong leaders, they become more integral to the company as a whole and shape its direction moving forward.
The Leadership Domino Effect
The best leadership training programs have a positive, exponential impact on your top talent and all of your employees. As your people grow, they tend to pass on their new skills and knowledge both actively and passively, which encourages others to develop, too. This domino effect strengthens teams and an organization’s culture overall, improving the performance of your current top talent and producing new potential leaders in the process. As a result, you won’t just keep your best talent around — you’ll have even more of it.
Long-Term Success Depends on Long-Term Leadership Development
If you want to retain your best people, you need to recognize their contributions, give them new opportunities, and find the right roles for their talents. Focusing on leadership development helps achieve all of these things and sets your business up for continual success. In this way, effective leadership development, talent management and succession planning are all inextricably linked.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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Business analysts have long anticipated a major shift in the way many of us work — namely, the rise of remote work. Indeed, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 already saw approximately 7 million remote workers in the U.S. (3.4% of the population). Several industries have been making this transition for years, while others have been slower to adapt. However, COVID-19 has acted as a powerful catalyst in the realm of remote work; in a matter of days, millions of people either lost their jobs or had to suddenly shift gears and start working from home full-time.
Even for businesses that don’t necessarily require a physical office space, this rapid change can prove challenging. Virtual interactions have a different flavor than in-person communication. Still, those companies fortunate enough to continue operations during this pandemic must make the most out of an uncertain situation. In fact, now is the perfect time to reconfigure and strengthen your strategic efforts, including your leadership development protocols.
The Benefits of Virtual Leadership Development
Adapting to A New Kind of Workplace
Optimizing your leadership development program for remote work begins by properly implementing the right technologies for your organization. As of now, text-based communication software like Slack and video conferencing tools like Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts are becoming essential components for remote teams. Of course, it’s not enough to merely have these tools at your disposal — you must ensure that every member of your team has access to these tools and can use them in proper coordination with one another.
Keeping team members on the same page when physically distant is a major role for your business’ leaders. As current leaders rise to the occasion, they inherently pass on their virtual leadership skills to developing leaders. A study performed by Gordon Schmidt in Industrial Organization Psychology points to three specific areas of emphasis for virtual leaders.
- Virtual leaders must clearly deliver task-relevant information, as certain social cues may be lacking from remote interactions
- Communication should occur more frequently and regularly when working remotely, as this allows teams to reconfigure actions and gain deeper understanding
- Virtual leaders should do their best to maintain and strengthen personal relationships, as a lack of regular physical interaction can lead to decreased accountability, feelings of isolation, and misunderstandings
Actively Developing Leaders Outside the Office
Not all leadership development occurs through osmosis, of course. As businesses shift to remote work, they must continue to play an active role in developing their leaders. Organizations that have already enrolled team members in an online leadership development program are naturally at an advantage here. Workers can continue attending virtual meetings and classes, track their performance online, receive daily affirmation notifications, and more.
However, some online leadership development training also includes in-person sessions. In the absence of these physical gatherings and one-on-one discussions, your organization must make an effort to conduct the same interactions virtually. This requires proper planning and communication, so team members understand when and how to continue their training over video, audio, and/or text chat. There should also be backup plans in place in the event that certain technologies experience difficulties or cannot be acquired by certain employees.
Synthesizing Virtual and In-Person Leadership Lessons
No one knows exactly when, or even if, we will return to business as usual. It’s possible that this sudden economic and social disruption will simply accelerate the already-surging global trend of remote work. If so, organizations must integrate developing leadership in the workplace with developing leadership outside of it. In other words, the methods and lessons learned from both in-person and virtual leadership development programs must transfer seamlessly between one another as the line between virtual leaders and tangible leaders continues to blur. As such, remote leadership training seminars shouldn’t look all that different from those held in a communal space.
With the right technology, strong communication ethic, and commitment to continual leadership development, you can keep your organization on track during this uncertain time. Better yet, you might end up ahead of the curve.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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It might seem odd that the term “salesy” has become a pejorative. After all, the main objective of a sales team is to sell their company’s products and services. However, those on the other end of a sales call have their own priorities and challenges, and no one enjoys feeling pressured to agree to a contract or make a purchase.
By now, most people can tell when the person selling something is doing it for the wrong reasons and not actually interested in the customer’s needs. As a result, salespeople who come off as too pushy and/or inauthentic end up losing more leads and sales than they gain. So, if your team has been accused of being “salesy,” your success rate and reputation will take a hit. It’s time to adopt a new approach to sales and sales team management. Here are some tips on how to start selling more naturally.
How to Have More Natural Sales Language
Remember: The Need is More Important than the Product
Improving your sales strategy begins by recognizing that, to the customer, what you’re selling is secondary to their needs. In other words, your sales team must shift its thinking from focusing on selling a product or service to addressing a prospect’s specific pain points. For instance, if you’re selling software solutions to a company, start the conversation by asking questions about their operations and common issues that your product can resolve. Taking this approach reminds the potential buyer of their needs and establishes a level of trust between both parties.
Do Not Push — Get Ahead of the Game
If selling is the main source of revenue for your business, easing up a bit is easier said than done. Still, considering that high-pressure sales pitches are less and less effective these days (and even detrimental), loosening your grip a bit is more beneficial in the long run. You can do this by “getting ahead of the game,” so to speak. What does this mean, exactly? Simply put, openly anticipate that your customer might decline your offer by laying out the possibilities from the outset. You and your prospect both know what’s going on, after all.
So, you can build trust by being transparent and leading a call or meeting with something like: “When we’re finished talking today you might decide that we can offer something valuable for your company or you might decide that now isn’t the right time. We’re here to make sure you make the best decision for your needs.” Acknowledging that “no” is an option reduces the pressure and makes everyone more comfortable.
Let the Other Party Talk (Ask Questions)
Speaking of transparency, another way to sell more naturally is to not hog the line: let the other party talk. If the prospect isn’t particularly chatty, ask meaningful, open-ended questions (avoid closed-off “yes or no” questions). Doing so may reveal important pain points and concerns that can help you improve your pitch and better understand the other party. Plus, allowing the prospect to speak creates a conversational balance that naturally reduces the “salesiness” of the interaction.
Sell by Not Selling (Inbound Marketing)
When we think of sales, we often think about outbound marketing strategies like cold calls, mailing lists, trade shows, etc. However, inbound marketing strategies are just as important, especially these days where social media and search algorithms dominate the information sphere. These strategies include content creation, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and other tactics that organically lead targeted audiences to your company and products. One major benefit of a strong inbound marketing approach is that it rarely comes off as “salesy” because people are coming to you, not vice versa. That said, you can still eliminate any potential “salesiness” by investing in great copywriting that’s easy to read, relatable, and highly relevant.
Focus on Developing Leaders in Your Sales Team
Your sales numbers depend on the performance of your sales team. If your people lack clear direction or don’t receive consistent, constructive feedback, they will continue to fall into the same ruts. In order to level up your sales strategy, then, you have to level up your sales staff. Investing in sales leadership training is crucial to staying ahead of the curve in this challenging, competitive industry.
An effective sales leadership development program might include seminars on how to personalize sales pitches, encourage prospect’s to do the talking, create quality sales copy and marketing content, follow up properly with different types of leads, and much more. As members of your sales team continue developing leadership skills, they can pass on their knowledge to newer, less experienced employees.
Being too “salesy” is a losing strategy. Shifting to a needs-focused, low-pressure, transparent, magnetic approach, combined with proper sales leadership development will help you win.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow.
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Your sales team has their work cut out for them, especially in today’s trying times. That said, the overall success of your business is directly tied to the success of your sales department. So, no matter how challenging the current economic landscape can be, you must do everything possible to ensure that your sales force doesn’t collapse entirely.
Every company is unique and therefore requires an individualized approach to proper sales team management. Still, there are certain steps every business can take to maintain its sales arm during the current pandemic. Let’s explore four ways to ensure your sales team can survive.
How to Consistently Improve a Sales Team
1. Create and Clarify Goals
Most people work their best when headed towards a goal, no matter how near or far it may be. The same goes for teams. By clearly laying out the company’s short- and long-term goals, your sales team will suddenly have a concrete reason to perform at its highest capacity.
That said, in most cases, sales are really hard right now. There is a lot of instability and uncertainty in the economy, which makes customers hesitant to sign new agreements. Short term goals during this “new normal” might be as simple as making X amount of calls per day. Or maybe making connections to have phone or video meetings to check in with clients – see how they are doing, listen to them, and ask how you can help, without even trying to sell. Once you hear their concerns, ask them if you can send them resources that your company provides related to those issues. Not sales material, but actual things they can use, even if your company isn’t the one that developed them. Unfortunately, the sales cycle might be a few more steps of relationship building for now.
2. Create a Positive and High-Performance Culture
Despite becoming another business buzzword, company culture does indeed play a major role in an organization’s success. In order to create a high-performance culture, you can’t neglect other cultural aspects in your workplace, such as employee morale, open communication, mutual respect, recognition, collaboration, etc. For your sales team to grow and improve, individual members must feel comfortable not just working with one another but also being with one another.
These issues can be a challenge- but certainly not impossible- during this time. With many companies working remotely, it is important to still maintain productive working relationships. Your company will most likely want to utilize video or phone conferencing systems to continue cultivating a sense of unity and team-based culture among staff.
3. Streamline Your Processes Together
The modern economy moves fast, so complex, cluttered sales strategies tend to fall behind the curve. If there is anything this situation has taught us, it is how important simple, seemingly boring processes are. If you have solid, well-thought-out processes in place that everyone is used to, it makes it much easier to address the more pressing and often more serious decisions of the current environment. Get your processes established quickly, communicate them clearly, make sure everyone has the tools necessary to follow them, and then start using them to ensure the continued success of your organization.
4. Conduct Regular Reviews
People have a hard time improving if they don’t receive regular feedback, and that is especially true in this untested climate. There is so much uncertainty in the air; your sales staff is likely to feel unsure of their performance as well. You can help this by having frequent conversations with salespeople to ensure they are doing ok. This should include ensuring they have all of the tools and technology they need, asking what their concerns are and addressing them whenever possible, and having more personal, intimate conversations that you previously might not have had. Ask about their families, their spouses, make sure they are well. It will help reinforce and build that culture we addressed earlier.
The four measures outlined above all come back to one essential ingredient for every business’ success: communication. In these trying times, we must all be extra vigilant about checking in on all fronts – salespeople with clients, management with staff, etc. Without an open line of communication between team members, sales managers, and other teams within your organization, you will struggle to set and achieve any goals. Conversely, a highly collaborative, communicative sales team will continue to adapt and navigate these unchartered waters.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
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Emotional intelligence just became the world’s #1 leadership skill.
As stated in this INC.com article, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions–both in yourself and in others. This ability is important to develop in everyday life, but it can be lifesaving in the face of a panic-inducing situation like the coronavirus, because it allows you to keep emotions under control so you can make balanced, reasonable decisions.”
Benefits of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
How Emotionally-Intelligent Leaders Act
If you’re like most companies, you’ve had to reconfigure your operations in 72 hours or less and help your team continue working productively while also working remotely. Suddenly you’re a virtual team, whether you like it or not.
As your operations shift, remember to act as an emotionally-intelligent leader. Here are some key points to remember:
- Acknowledge what your employees are feeling
- Reassure your teams that you’ll get through this together
- Communicate often – in the absence of information, people will make things up
- Be transparent about the circumstances
Transparency is enormously important right now, even for companies that usually prefer not to “overshare” with employees. A global health scare leaves people feeling vulnerable. If you’re transparent about how things are unfolding, you’ll gain respect and trust by showing authenticity.
Use Plans & Encouragement
Having a routine will help your employees cope with the newfound uncertainty in the world. Help your team members plan their day in advance so they can maximize their work productivity around home-schooling and other personal demands.
When in doubt, be proactive. Take the initiative to help your employees plan their time and stay organized during this difficult time.
Proactive planning might include:
- Helping them select their top three highest priorities for the day before the day begins
- Rescheduling meetings to work within a realistic schedule
- Selecting their highest-payoff activities outside of their three priorities, which may have changed drastically since they began working remotely
Remember Empathy & Ask Questions
We can’t emphasize this enough: Your employees need some empathy right now. Think about how much they’re dealing with: new technology, working with kids at home, co-working with spouses and roommates, demands on their internet bandwidth, not to mention constant fear over a virus that could harm them or their loved ones.
If it feels a bit strange to suddenly be showering your employees with empathy, here’s a natural way to handle it: Just ask simple, kind questions.
- How are you?
- What is your biggest challenge right now?
- What can we do to make this easier for you?
- Is there anything you’re working on that you’re particularly worried about? (Meeting a deadline? Letting a client down? Not getting something to a team member on time?)
For more tips about showing empathy and emotional intelligence in your leadership, take a look at the latest whitepaper from Leadership Resources. It’s all about brushing up on your emotional intelligence and keeping your business running smoothly during challenging times.
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As businesses grow, decision-makers might struggle to steer their organization in the right direction. The path forward isn’t always clear, and some team members might not be on board with where things are headed. These difficult crossroads present an opportunity to revitalize the company’s vision, goals, and entire planning process. Powering ahead without taking a step back to examine the bigger picture can be disastrous.
If you operate a business in Lincoln, Nebraska and find your organization in similar straits, you can benefit greatly from adopting the Entrepreneurial Operation System (EOS)®. EOS is a proven process that helps businesses achieve their short- and long-term goals and improve their company culture via simple concepts and practical tools. Let’s go over how EOS can transform your Lincoln, NE business’ goal-setting and future planning strategies.
The Benefits of EOS
Creating Clarity
Without a clear idea of where your business is heading and why, you and your team will get stuck spinning your wheels rather than making meaningful progress. The EOS Model™ lists Vision as one of its Six Key Components™ for good reason, describing it as, “getting everyone in your organization 100% on the same page with where you’re going, and how you plan to get there.”
This component is at the heart of every activity your business undergoes within the EOS Process®. For instance, the initial 90 Minute Meeting, which is led by your Professional or Certified EOS Implementer®, is designed in part to create team buy-in regarding EOS. Then, Focus Day™ and Vision-Building Days™ deal with setting priorities, establishing and clarifying your vision, and devising a practical marketing strategy that covers shorter- and longer-term outlooks.
Increasing Accountability
The best-laid plans are ultimately meaningless if not executed upon. Using EOS, your business won’t just come up with strategic plans but also ensures that your people are actively doing their part to reach every goal and achieve your vision. This is where another one of the Six Key Components, Traction®, comes into play: “instilling focus, discipline, and accountability throughout the company so that everyone executes on that vision—every day.”
The Quarterly Sessions built into the EOS Process are focused on performance management and addressing any and all issues that stand in the way of progress. The Annual Sessions are meant to improve team management methods and re-establish and/or adjust the company’s vision moving forward based on the past year’s results.
Dynamic Planning and Developing Leaders
The world is constantly changing, including Lincoln Nebraska and your business itself. It doesn’t make sense to lock your organization into a static plan that doesn’t account for sudden developments in the business landscape or within your walls. You need a strong but flexible strategy instead. The Quarterly and Annual Sessions mentioned above ensure that your organization stays on its toes and recalibrates according to whatever external or internal changes might come. Additionally, if you want your business to continue thriving, you must focus on developing future leaders to take on important roles and move it forward. EOS prioritizes and promotes leadership development and health as well.
In order for your enterprise to grow, you must know where it’s headed, figure out how to get there, and act accordingly (which might mean charting a new course every now and again). The Entrepreneurial Operating System helps you clarify your vision, keep everyone accountable, and adapt in a changing environment.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how we can help your business succeed and grow.
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While it’s true that some individuals naturally possess certain leadership qualities, many of the best leaders weren’t “born with it” at all. Rather, they became leaders over time with the help of good mentors, experience in both life and business, and a network of support, all of which gave them a sense of ownership and confidence necessary in a strong leader. Indeed, your Omaha, Nebraska organization might be filled with hidden leaders that simply need direction and encouragement to reach their full potential.
Facilitating this leadership development should be a major priority for your business, as it will boost productivity, stimulate strong and innovative decision-making, strengthen your culture, and secure its future. Here’s how to encourage leadership from more reserved but promising employees in your company.
How to Get the Most Out of Shy Employees
Be a Good Leader Yourself
Good leaders have a tendency to pass on their qualities to those near them. Don’t shy away from expressing what you’ve learned on your journey to becoming a leader, but don’t limit this expression to mere words. You must also act the part. Communicate, collaborate, listen, and prioritize transparency. Setting a strong example for your team is the first step toward developing leadership talent in your organization.
Cultivate a Team-Oriented Culture
Leaders must be good listeners, but they can’t be afraid to speak up, either. The less vocal employees in your company will be more inclined to share their ideas and opinions if they feel comfortable and encouraged to do so. Building a team-based culture can go a long way toward achieving this level of openness. You might start hosting more team-building events, developing projects that require coordination, or actively asking your employees to share their thoughts on a given matter.
Deliver Consistent, Constructive Feedback
People struggle to grow if they’re not fully aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and your reserved employees might not actively seek help or ask questions about their performance. Delivering constructive feedback on a regular basis helps keep your employees on track, and lets them bolster their strengths while working on areas of improvement. Maintaining this honest line of communication will also encourage them to reach out to you and other leaders for guidance in the future.
Expand Employees’ Responsibilities
If you see potential in an employee, entrust them with more responsibility. Soft-spoken employees might initially lack the confidence to take on certain tasks and roles, but giving them more responsibilities can actually empower them and show them a side of themselves they didn’t even know existed. This can have a domino effect, where a once-reserved team member suddenly shows an appetite for accountability, growth, and other skills needed to be a leader. And if it turns out they weren’t quite up to the task, dial things back and help them gradually work their way back up.
Offer Leadership Training Programs
Ultimately, there’s only so much you as an individual can do in terms of team building and leadership training. You may need to create and/or outsource specialized leadership development programs to give your employees the resources they need to develop as leaders in the broader sense. Investing in these programs can be a major boon for your Omaha, NE organization. After all, your business’ growth and success depends on the growth and success of your people.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow.
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