The Las Vegas Rescue Mission was the site of our July service event. Joining the Aegis Learning team was Dave Newton, Renee Newton, Cari Zobrist, Teresa Lattin and Robert Rippee.
#powerof1
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Congratulations to the awesome group of leaders from Carnival Cruise Lines for completing Leadership IMPACT.
Tremendous enthusiasm, spirit and a great heart for leadership. Well done Carnival Cruise Lines. Well done.
Recently, a 2015 “Forbes” article (Horoszowski,M. 29 March, 2015. Forbes.com) resurfaced on various social media sights, highlighting the benefits of volunteering. Despite its age, the message still rings true. Reading this article got me thinking about how volunteering can also expand our leadership skills, and may provide us with a real-life laboratory to test out new skills and competencies in order to hen transfer them back to the workplace.
We all know that a critical leadership skill is time management; if you cannot manage yourself, then you surely cannot lead others. So if “volunteering makes you feel like you have more time” then I’m in! (and from personal experience, as counterintuitive as it sounds, this is true!) ….so how is it possible to pack in more than 24 hours in a day and still manage to balance all the demands of career / family / self-care and now volunteering? The answer is by appearing to be in control and not allowing stress to take over your life. Also if you are working for a cause that is truly your passion, then it is not “stressful” rather it is truly a joy.
So find your passion. Whatever that may be; volunteer with your kid’s PTA. Volunteer at the local soup kitchen; take the kids and have them serve the homeless on a holiday. Join a Church committee on whatever topic is of interest. Spend time at the local animal shelter. Become active in your professional association and mentor a promising protégée or teach a class. Hold a FUNraiser and walk or run for ___(insert your favorite charity here) ____ . Whatever your area of interest, these groups welcome new volunteers; and if you are already part of a non-profit or charity organization, then get more involved by joining the leadership team. Whatever it is, find your passion. You may say “I don’t have time to volunteer” that’s true, none of us do; however, time management is as simple as managing priorities; we make time for those things that are a priority.
Practice leadership skills that you may not have an opportunity to apply in the workplace. Maybe you are an independent contributor and do not have any direct reports or no longer manage a process. First, you need to reassess your value and realize that you are more important than you may realize. Take on some new responsibilities in a volunteer capacity; but be careful, you may even learn a new skill set along the way. Even if you’ve never been a “supervisor,” you may find yourself in a “leadership” role and have to be the boss for the first time ever. An interesting dynamic with volunteers is that like you, no one is compensated to be there, and your leadership skills may really be put to the test.
Volunteers working together all share the same core “cause” or passion in common, whatever that is; keep the strategic goal in focus. This is similar to the workplace, the primary difference being the paycheck and individual’s motivation. In a volunteer setting, there is a high degree of certainty that everyone is there because they want to help, rather than to earn a wage. Everyone is working together towards the same ultimate goal and leadership can and should use that to “rally the troops” when necessary. Keep in mind that volunteer leadership is driven by communication, influence, and relationships, not power and fear. Try this same approach in the workplace; it works!
Still not convinced? Some other great reasons to volunteer are to use this setting as a “proving ground” even if just to yourself, to practice and perfect your leadership skills; for example, challenge yourself to speak in public, or work on a project that will teach you a new skill set; what have you got to lose?. Then those skills are transferrable to the workplace. And at the same time you are giving back to the community, expanding your network (i.e. influence) meeting net people, our and might just enjoy yourself.
(And by the way, it looks great on a resume)
As chief learning officer for Aegis Learning, Linda Florence is an advocate for continued education and quality professional growth.
Linda is a talented facilitator and coach and passionate about the causes she support locally and nationally.
Do little things matter? Do style and format matter? Does the packaging affect the quality of a product? Does grammar matter?
The easy answer to those is yes, yes, they do.
Little things matter but they never will trump the overall delivery of a project, product or service. Think for a moment about proposal for a system change that will have a million-dollar positive impact on the organization, make people’s life easier and help you deliver much better service to your customer. The core content of this proposal is solid. The numbers are right.
But, there is a typo on page 4. The wrong form of the word there is used. There are really no interesting graphics to appeal to visual people. The paragraphs are too long and ramble. The style makes the proposal hard to look at and read. Nothing interesting or sexy or appealing in this document.
Will that have an impact? Absolutely it will. Intuitively, this strikes many of you as wrong but unfortunately, style, details and presentation quality matter. It explains why neatly packaged name brands consistently outsell the same product sold generically.
Effective leaders need to strike a balance between overall effectiveness and attention to quality. When this balance is out of whack, there are two possible outcomes. If effectiveness trumps quality, poorly appearing items will appear and adversely impact the image of the organization. If there is overemphasis on quality, opportunities and market share will be lost. This balance is not a nice neat little 50/50 split either. It depends on the nature of your product or service, core values and corporate culture.
For a leader to have a quality focus, you must engage in a couple of key strategies. Firstly, you must clearly articulate your expectations. Tell your team what you expect and what you will clearly kick back to them as unacceptable. Provide them with examples of high quality and examples of poor quality. Provide them with templates of documents and standards that you view as quality work.
The second strategy becomes a matter of great judgment for leaders. A quality focused leader must not be afraid to return a piece of work to its author or architect when it does not meet the stated standard of quality. Far too many leaders “clean up” or edit projects prior to final delivery rather that have the originator make the changes. Unfortunately, that sends the message poor work is fine, because the leader will always fix it up. It will also condition your team members to continue to supply you with inferior quality work.
Where this becomes a matter of judgment and challenge is when quality abuts a deadline. I would love to produce more quality but the deadline is this afternoon. Many times, this creates a significant compromise in the quality of work.
To validate your judgment, you need to know your organization’s values. Is there more emphasis placed on speed or quality. Where is there higher impact, a missed deadline or poor quality? You must make this decision. You may also have to have a courageous conversation and tell someone a deadline will be missed because the quality was not acceptable. Certainly, not an easy conversation, but a necessary conversation none the less.
One final note about quality. As you model both your tolerance for quality and quality of your own efforts, your team will follow that example.
Tim Schneider is the founder of Aegis Learning and has been working with teams and leaders for 25 years. He generates results, impact and his sole focus is your success.
He is the author of The Ten Competencies of Outstanding Leadership and Beyond Engagement and a widely sought speaker, training facilitator and individual development coach.
There are certainly more important relationships than your training and organizational development provider. Your doctor. Your dentist. Your tax professional to name a few.
But don’t undervalue the need to perform due diligence and pick a solid training and organizational development provider. These are people that you are trusting with your most valued asset, your team. Slick graphics and a cool website rarely tell a story of true effectiveness. Some of the best organizational development people in the world have very small footprints on social media, the internet and would never be considered flashy but their value is unsurpassed.
Polly Walker lead the Aegis Cares effort to gather socks and underwear for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. These core essentials and very meaningful to the homeless population in Nevada and we were thrilled to be able to help.
Special thanks to Ameriprise Insurance, the Boulder City Rotary Club and John Chase for their donations to this great cause.
#powerof1
Join our Facebook group to receive updates and to participate in Aegis Cares campaigns and events.
Aegis Cares is our work to help make our communities and world a bit better. Through efforts, sharing of talents and donations, our core value is to help others. Polly Walker is our Aegis Cares coordinator and guide.
In June, Aegis Cares is coordinating the gathering of socks and underwear for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. Please contact us or join our Facebook group for more information and to participate.
July will bring our second service event to the homeless community in Las Vegas as we serve dinner on the evening of the 14th. Join us if you can.
Join our Facebook group to receive updates and to participate in Aegis Cares campaigns and events.
Finding Your Message
Your words that inspire or message can be a slogan, a rally cry, a single word, a quote or a common shared experience. After listening to your team you will know what it is that connects them to your customer and your mission. In some organizations I worked with it was as simple as “Starfish” a reminder that they could make a difference one person, one case at a time. There is the “Sneakers and Cheerios” slogan that connected team members to the children they served in their organization. You have heard of “Delivering Happiness” at Zappos and GE’s “Imagination at Work”. You and your team will know when you have found the words of common experience that connect at an emotional level.
Leadership as Service to Your Team
Leaders are servants and their primary customer is their team and their respective needs. A leader must provide service to their team members. To improve your service to your team members, recognize them as your customer, prioritize their needs, give of yourself and be open to their suggestions and feedback. With providing excellent customer service to your team members as your motivator you will ensure an inspired team and long term success.
Inspiring Through Empowered Delegation
As you listen to your team remember that in addition to what you say and do you can inspire your team by creating opportunities for greater participation and input.
In one organization we worked with, providing greater team member participation and input paid tremendous dividends to organizational outcomes as well as breathing fresh air and new life into an environment that was previously anything but inspired. It was leadership support for team member innovation teams challenged with proposing ideas for organizational improvement that reenergized team member connection to the company mission and vision. The energy was palpable. Connecting the team to rediscovering their organizational purpose and impact on customers and community was inspiring. You can inspire by asking team members for input, listening and acting on their ideas.
Connecting to Meaning and Value
Another way to be an inspirational leader is by giving meaning to the work being done or to more effectively communicate the meaning and value of their jobs. The point of meaningfulness is the self creation of ego fulfillment when a team member has a belief that their work and efforts have real value and contribute to a bigger product. When the call center representative understands the impact of their work and contribution to the overall performance, pride and ego fulfillment follow. No one wants to be a cog in the wheel with no understanding of how their work contributes to a more holistic view of success.
You need to make an important assumption here. Everyone’s work has meaning and value. Otherwise they would not be getting paid to do it. Paid employment has value inherently just by the very nature of being paid and having market driven terms.
So where is the issue? Although a team member’s work has value, many do not know or understand that value. It is incumbent upon you to communicate this value and share it often with team members. Whether their contribution was huge or modest, it was a contribution to the whole and needs to be articulated. The hotel guest loved their stay. Do we communicate that to the housekeeper, grounds keeper, front desk person and security officer or do we just keep them in the dark about their contribution to this successful customer interaction?
As a very satisfied customer, I recently wrote a letter of praise to management about several team members at my fitness club. Not sure whether the letter would be shared with the team members I made sure to give each of them a copy. People need to know. Praise, appreciation, and gratitude for their efforts by customers contributes to an inspired working environment. Remember, create a culture where praise, positive feedback and customer appreciation is shared and celebrated.
You as the leader have the primary influence that can ignite inspiration in your organization. Tap into the emotional drivers of your team members. Listen to them and connect what inspires them with the organizational mission. Create a culture of positive feedback and praise. Mastering these simple (though not easy) skill sets will breath new life into any organization!
Teresa Lowry is a passionate advocate for learning, growth and generating real organizational change.
Fueling that passion are exceptional communication abilities, a great training room presence and the ability to connect with people successfully in mentoring and coaching. Teresa brings successful results and implementing change from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. She has a Juris Doctorate and bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Personally, Teresa enjoys serving on several community boards, volunteering with non-profit community groups and she is committed to achieving a healthy lifestyle through fitness. Along with her husband, you will find her in the gym every morning working out and training for distance and obstacle races.
One of the definitions of inspiration is the drawing in of breath. Working in an inspired workplace can be like a breath of fresh air. Your team is energized. Stories of positive connections with each other and customers occur frequently and are celebrated. People want to come to work.
Inspired organizations have higher levels of motivation, enhanced enjoyment, productivity, service levels and commitment. This is what you want for yourself, your team and your organization.
Emotions Drive the Train
A necessary component of your leadership skill set is to influence and inspire. Where to begin? Dale Carnegie said “When dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotion.” Understanding that 80% of all decisions, reactions and responses are driven by emotions becomes key to your success. You may start down a logical path but at the decision point emotions become the primary driver.
Your team members are emotional humans and they need leadership that appeals to those emotions. Emotions drive attitudes, attitudes drive behavior.
Know Yourself
Leaders require self mastery and emotional intelligence and as such you then inspire others with your attitudes and behaviors. This can be through a shared vision which can include helping others, making the world a better, safer, more fun, smarter place. Whatever your company product or service there is a way to tap into your team members human desire to connect, give, and feel good about what they do. By way of example, you have at some point in your life experienced a class with someone who was inspired to teach as opposed to someone teaching just to make a living. The best are those who are inspired to teach. You know the difference. There is no comparison in the quality and impact of the experience when we are served by those who are inspired by what they do.
Connecting to What’s Meaningful
“Connecting why we are here. We are hard wired to connect with others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and without it there is suffering.” Brene Brown.
You begin by connecting with your team. Openly seek out their input. Ask the question: What is it about our mission, our service, or product that inspires you? After you ask the question. Listen. Then listen some more. Remember that what inspires you may not be the same as what inspires your team members. You have to have a message that resonates with them.
Next time: Finding the Message that Inspires
Teresa Lowry is a passionate advocate for learning, growth and generating real organizational change.
Fueling that passion are exceptional communication abilities, a great training room presence and the ability to connect with people successfully in mentoring and coaching. Teresa brings successful results and implementing change from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. She has a Juris Doctorate and bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Personally, Teresa enjoys serving on several community boards, volunteering with non-profit community groups and she is committed to achieving a healthy lifestyle through fitness. Along with her husband, you will find her in the gym every morning working out and training for distance and obstacle races.
Colin Powell
I’m a huge Adam Sandler fan, and one of my favorite movies is “The Waterboy”. You remember the movie. Sandler plays a character named Bobby Boucher, a socially inept (but also intelligent and driven) fellow whose dream is fulfilled when he becomes the water boy for a university football team.
Bobby encounters a lot of ridicule in his new job. Even his mama is not a fan, constantly informing him about the evils of “foosball”. But water is his passion and he continues to strive to be the best… refilling water kegs with fresh water and constantly testing the alkaline levels.
Poor Bobby has very few fans in his corner, save for his girlfriend and one other person: Townie. Townie is featured through the movie, constantly supporting Bobby by repeating one line: “YOU CAN DO IT!!!!” At first, Bobby seems to be surprised to have a supporter, but as the movie goes on he actually seems to rely on Townie’s pep talks. Bobby ultimately triumphs and becomes a “foosball” player, marries his girlfriend, and saves the day (I love a happy ending!).
Good leaders are the “Townie” of their team…the optimist and the unwavering supporter who is there through the tough times. Optimism is defined as “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something”. Optimism, in fact, is one of the best behaviors a leader can display and cultivate.
There will be many times that a team will become discouraged. There may not seem to be an end in sight to a project, or support and faith may be wavering. You, as a leader, may even have moments when you feel that way (on the inside)…but, as the commercial slogan goes, “Never Let Them See You Sweat!”. It is during these dark times that optimism in leadership is not only important. It is REQUIRED. Your team needs to know they have you in your corner, and that you believe in them even when they don’t.
But don’t confuse “optimism” with “always having the answer”. You aren’t going to have the answer for everything, and that is ok. What you do need to have is belief and support in your team, and to convey and instill that. Be the Townie of your team…provide your unwavering support and let them know they can do it! Having a Townie on the team may make all the difference. It did to Bobby Boucher.
Polly Walker is a talented facilitator, coach and expert in process improvement. As the chief innovation officer for Aegis Learning, Polly produces many of the new ideas and creative solutions for workplace learning programs and their delivery.
Ms. Walker has two master’s degrees and has worked with some of the biggest client projects for Aegis Learning. She is also our Townie and constantly optimistic.
