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CAN YOUR TEAM SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE?

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👉 CAN YOUR TEAM SEE THE BIG PICTURE?

Often leaders believe their teams are aware of the bigger picture, and yet when I speak to employees across all layers of the organization, the story I am told is very different.

For those who claim to see the bigger picture, I ask them to explain it to the rest of us, and in most cases they are unable to do it.

The fact is that many teams – even leaders – can’t see the big picture. Many people don’t have enough information to understand why certain decisions are taken, or what others are working on. With most of us putting our heads down and focusing on doing our daily jobs, we are unable to see how all the pieces fit together.

Seeing the big picture is about taking a step back from each of our respective jobs, roles and departments and asking ourselves: “What are we trying to accomplish in the first place?”.

Seeing the big picture takes practise. As a leader, start by filling in the blanks in the following sentence: “My company helps (ideal clients / customers) do / create (results they want to achieve) by (solutions offered to help achieve them).”

Once you can explain the above easily and simply, ask your people to fill in the gaps too. How well they are able to do so will tell you a lot about how aware they really are about the bigger picture.

Everyone comes to work wanting to do a good job, but they can’t operate beyond what they see. As a leader, you need to support your team in seeing the bird’s eye-view of work too, as well as helping them understand how what they do connects to the larger picture of the organization’s goals and success.

You can do so by sharing the big picture regularly, and making it a consistent part of your message, as well as connecting the big picture to their work – which most people are unable to see how those two go together.

Your people want to be part of work that matters and has meaning. They want to make a difference and bring value. One of the best ways to help people get that is to help them see what the company is about and where it is headed, so help them connect the dots, because your people will draw out much inspiration and meaning in their work.

By ensuring a clear line of sight that connects the day-to-day work of employees with the bigger picture, as well as constantly bringing it up in your communication, you’ll create a shared understanding and shared ownership of success, which in turn will help you develop a highly engaged, high-performing team.

Over to you now, how do you help your employees see the bigger picture?

To your success,
Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training. She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed. Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead. More available on www.isabelvalle.com

TURN YOUR CANT’S INTO CANS

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A few days ago, a former client called me and told me that their leadership retreat – which was meant to be in person – had been cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic. They needed to go virtual and wanted a guest speaker last minute. She wanted me to present to her whole management team in Europe on a topic I hadn’t done prior.

“Of course I can. I will find the time in the next few days to research, craft and rehearse it.” My brain told me it was rushed and my schedule already full, but I couldn’t let her down.

Little did I know that I would have a serious reaction to the 3rd booster shot, and my daughter would get sick for 2 days after that, needing my constant care 24/7.

I was left with some hours prior to the event to do it all, start from scratch and deliver on my commitment. “Don’t do it. It’s too hard. You’ll never deliver on time. You will only embarrass yourself. Call her and cancel. She will understand.” That’s all my brain could say, over and over.

If I would have listened to my brain alone, I would have just quit. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let my former client down and I couldn’t let adversity get in the way of my showing up, doing my best, trying at the very least.

At times when I need to push beyond what my mind tells me, I focus on my gut. My gut is brave and courageous and shares with me messages of strength. My gut is my coach and my cheerleader, always encouraging me to be and do better, inspiring me to overcome my own mental limitations.

“You can and you will. You have some time now, so instead of wasting valuable time and energy worrying about quitting, you can use that time to do some deep focused work and see what you are capable of achieving.” I love my gut’s voice. It is often scary, but with time I’ve learn to trust it. I know it means well, and it wants me to get out of my own way.

“I CAN DO THIS AND I WILL” I tell myself. And almost instantly, I feel a lightness and a surge of energy that has me recalculating inside my head the process that I need to follow to complete and deliver on my commitment on time, and to the level I am used to when I can afford more time and energy.

That’s it. I sit down, I start from the beginning, and I only allow myself to focus on the step that I am working on right now. I notice I am somehow far more focused and efficient than normal. I feel weirdly energized and completely absorbed with my work and, before I know it, I have managed to complete it all with some hours to spare.

As I rehearse, I can’t stop smiling and feeling proud of myself. I don’t quite understand how I was able to pull myself together and get it all done in a fragment of the time I would typically invest in a similar project.

Going through this made me realise that your attitude determines your success or failure. It makes me wonder how many times I’ve said no or can’t in the past, and what the cost was of not showing up and proving that I was capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for.

I wonder what would be possible for all of us, if we just dedicated a bit more time listening to our gut, instead of blindly following our mind’s commands.

This morning I woke up to the nicest feedback from my former client about my contribution to the event. In it, she tells me about how they loved my energy and style of presentation, what a difference it made for the team, how it enriched their discussions on the day, and how they were able to incorporate some of their learnings into their new strategic roadmap moving forward. I can’t stop smiling, feeling grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to serve and impact others positively.

It makes me reflect on how easily it would have been to give up, and how I would have felt if I had just said no instead.

I wanted to share my story with you so that if you want to turn your cant’s into cans, you too can seek out the messages from your own gut, because we all have them. All you need to do is to focus on your gut and ask questions – you’ll be surprised just how quickly the words of encouragement come up.

Just know that your mind doesn’t always have your back. It is wired for self-preservation, keeping you safe and stuck in your comfort zone. For those times when you feel unable to aim higher or reach further, know that you have other resources within you to help you go beyond what you think you are capable of.

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training. She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed. Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead. More available on www.isabelvalle.com

How Fear-Based Leadership Is Holding Your Business Back

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IS FEAR-BASED LEADERSHIP HOLDING YOUR BUSINESS BACK?

I am surprised at how leading by fear is still so common in our workplaces. I mean sure, leading by fear can get things done and is a powerful motivator, but it is also a dangerous game to play.

It is important to note that leaders who try to hold people accountable through fear may not realize they’re doing it – and the people around them won’t tell them either. Or, if they’re doing it intentionally, they may try to argue that fear is the only approach that gets things done. Many leaders fall into fear-based leadership by default, because they are stressed, overwhelmed, insecure or desperate for immediate results.

Fear can manifest in an organization in many ways, but it typically happens with a trickle-down effect, where ineffective leaders employ scare tactics to control the behavior of employees. These tactics come in the form of veiled threats, passive aggression, intimidation, manipulation, silence treatment or humiliation.

Whatever the case, fear-based leadership is ineffective and plain wrong. There are leaders who might be tempted to use their ego and authority to challenge their teams, but it is impossible to get the best business outcomes when you take this approach.

Leading by fear has a number of consequences. It stops teamwork, it creates silos and mistrust, it stops people from speaking up and it makes them afraid of being criticised for their ideas, killing their confidence.

I’ve seen very experienced and competent people lose their confidence after prolonged bullying by fear-based leaders. Once they’ve lost their confidence, the other problems begin. They stop speaking up, they stop collaborating. Basically, they turn into the type of team member that they never wanted to be.

When your people are scared, they can’t think clearly, they become frustrated and overwhelmed, and build resentment towards the leader and the business. Stress levels and employee turnover rise, while workplace satisfaction and happiness plummet, motivation and engagement disappears and performance diminishes. As a consequence,  there is an absence of  innovation, creativity, collaboration, solutions or ideas that could move your business forward.

As a leader, your job is to inspire others do their best work, instead of adding even more obstacles for them to navigate. Ditch the fear and lead with respect and transparency instead. Give up control and trust and inspire your people to do great things.

We need to swap the fear-based approach for one where psychological safety abounds. In a workplace where everyone feels safe, there is a sense that nobody will be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. The absence of fear leads to more innovation, increased productivity and an environment where people are allowed to thrive.

Nobody likes leaders who rule with fear. Remember, employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses. If you want to attract and retain great talent, and take your business to a whole new level, consider trying better, more effective approaches to bringing out the best in your people.

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training. She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed. Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead. More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Lead Authentically to Lead Effortlessly

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I am surprised by how many leaders attempt to be one way at work, while their truer, more authentic personality emerges only outside of work. And it surprises me when these same leaders seem shocked or confused when their employees don’t trust them, don’t like them, and are looking elsewhere for other work opportunities.

Studies have found that leaders who are authentic at work are more likely to have engaged, enthusiastic, motivated employees and psychologically safe cultures. Whereas those who act inauthentically can create disruptive, negative forces at work, adding to uncertainty and mistrust.

Leadership success starts with being authentic and true to ourselves, without compromising our values and personality. Authentic leaders are self-actualized individuals who are aware of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions. They also show their real selves to their people. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they don’t hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak. They also realize that being self-actualized is an endless journey, never complete.

From my own personal experience, it takes a lot of energy to behave in ways that are out of sync with our true values, priorities, hopes, characteristics, and style. And energy is a resource that I find short in supply in most leaders.

The concept of bringing your whole self to work is nothing new, however our current times demand more than ever that we embrace our true, best selves. To be effective leaders, we must discover our strengths and step into them. We must learn about our blind spots and address them. We need to explore who we want to be as leaders and what feels right for us. Because it is hard, and really stressful, to try to be someone you are not. It’s like swimming upstream constantly.

When you lead authentically, however, you are effortlessly powerful.

Unfortunately, we typically learn to lead by example. Although adopting someone else’s style may help you for a while, eventually you are going to have to work out what feels right for you, the kind of leadership strategies that you want to follow and find your own natural style, one in which you understand your purpose, adhere to your values and lead from the heart.

Ready to take the next step? In order to boost your self-awareness, allow me to ask you, what drives you? What are your values, likes and dislikes? Are you setting goals for yourself that are aligned with your values? What do you want to accomplish in your life? Is there a gap between the image that others have of you and the image you would like to project? How do you want to be remembered? Getting clear on these questions will help you provide meaning to the work you do, whilst being authentically you.

Genuine change is rarely dramatic or sudden. You can start with small steps and gradually align your behaviours with your most important values. You’re not likely to make real, sustainable change without a commitment to small, daily tweaks over time. You can also bring trusted colleagues, friends and / or a coach into your plan to provide support as sounding boards, feedback-givers, cheerleaders, and problem-solvers.

Be an authentic leader, whatever that looks like for you.

To your success,
Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.

She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.

Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.

More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Great Leaders Listen First and Speak Last

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GREAT LEADERS LISTEN FIRST AND SPEAK LAST

 

As a leader, you want to inspire action instead of commanding action. In order to be able to appeal to people’s hearts, you need to be able to apply empathy, which is a vital leadership trait. Without empathy, you will be limiting your ability to impact value, engagement and culture positively.

 

The simplest way to apply empathy is to learn to listen before speaking. As a leader, you don’t need to have all the answers, and you don’t need to know more than your employees to effectively lead them. Unless you are prepared to listen to your people’s ideas first, you’ll be commanding not communicating, dictating not leading, and creating followers instead of other leaders.

 

We were given two ears and one mouth for a reason, so the next time you want to speak choose instead to listen. In listening to other’s opinions and having an unbiased view as they seek to understand, leaders gain trust exponentially faster than by telling others what to do.

 

A leader must not have all the answers but instead have all the questions. Successful communication in effective leaders often looks as 80% listening, and 20% or less speaking. Together, this ratio of listening to speaking ensures empathy rather than apathy and leadership that inspires rather than commands action.

 

If your culture at work is one of silos and internal competition – one where people try to show up as the smartest person in the room, speaking first, asking questions second, with a fixed mindset – you need to work on exchanging it for a mindset of continuous improvement, transparency, learning and listening, so you can bring out the best in people.

 

To succeed, leaders must remain open to receiving ideas from anyone and anywhere, and to recognize and support good ideas no matter where these come from. Listening will also help you connect with people on an emotional level, whilst showing others you genuinely care.

 

Leaders aren’t good because they are right but rather because they are willing to listen, learn, and bring out the best in others. So next time you feel the urge to speak first, listen.

 

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.

She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.

Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.

More available on www.isabelvalle.com

How to Strike the Right Balance in Your Leadership Effectiveness

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How to Strike the Right Balance in Your Leadership Effectiveness

What is your natural, tempting go-to response when under pressure in a leadership position? Exert more power? Withdraw? Give room for your people to figure things out?

Executives have a difficult job to do. Each day, they must balance competing demands, face numerous uncertainties, whilst taking the needs and concerns of all stakeholders into account when making decisions—while also trying to continuously develop their own professional skills and leadership abilities.

When it comes to effective leadership, both authority and vulnerability are necessary ingredients. The times of focusing exclusively on efficiency and getting results are long gone. If your predominant approach to managing your people is based on issuing orders, micromanaging every task, telling people off for making mistakes and always putting profits first and foremost, you are in trouble.

Today’s economy rests on knowledgeable workers who may possibly know more than you do, and demand a fair degree of independence and flexibility to do a good job. Your people need leaders that are going to give them room to use their skills whilst also providing support  when needed.

As a leader, how do you strike the right balance between vulnerability and authority? What does it mean to be yourself at work? What role does authenticity and emotional intelligence play in effective leadership? When are emotional responses appropriate?

People look at their leaders for guidance, support and feedback in the form of coaching, training and encouragement. But just as important as those is to ensure they get their everyday work done, engage with stakeholders properly and professionally, and carrying out the necessary tasks for producing the best possible results.

Effective leadership is not an either/or approach. Knowing when to assert authority whilst knowing when emotional responses are appropriate is important, so your people can trust, confide and respect each other more, whilst learning from mistakes instead of being afraid to try.

How to strike a balance 

Every leader needs to strike a balance between authority and vulnerability, knowing when to concentrate on each. To help you blend them effectively, ask yourself these questions:

  • Is the work getting done well without my intervention?

    • Yes – Concentrate on motivating the team to keep performing well.

    • No – Put on your manager hat and ask the team what’s getting in the way of better performance, then help them implement changes.

  • Do you focus on results or how the job got done (process)?

    • Results – Good for you. That’s what is most important.

    • Process – If you tend to focus on process more than results, challenge yourself to become more comfortable with the reality that many alternatives may exist to getting the same result.

  • What do you spend the most time talking about? The tasks at hand, processes and deadlines, or the big picture and strategy?

    • Leaders need to discuss both but pay attention to whether you’re leaning too hard one direction or the other.

  • Do you ask employees to accomplish objectives without explaining the need behind the request?

    • No – Skip to the next step.

    • Yes – Employees are more likely to go the extra mile if they understand the reasons they’re being asked to do something.

  • Who is responsible when things go wrong? Do you blame the team or yourself?

    • Team – Think again.

    • Yourself – A leader understands that it’s ultimately his responsibility for the success or failure of his team.

A more authoritarian manager without the soft skills of leadership won’t know how to ask questions, listen and motivate.  Without understanding, a manager can’t be as effective in encouraging innovation and improving productivity, the real goal of any successful business.

Without vulnerability, your ability to motivate and inspire employees who span a 40-50 year age range, with different cultural perspectives, needs and goals will be compromised. Now more than ever before, we need leaders who can bring mentally healthy values to their teams and organizations. And that means showing weakness, at times, in the right context – and this is one of the hardest things to do in leadership.

But be careful – according to science, showing too much vulnerability at work can also hurt you if you are the boss. So be mindful about keeping some things to yourself. Sharing too much or too many doubts about your own abilities or worries that the company might fail, may cause people to lose faith in you.

If you’re a leader, what does this mean? Unfortunately, that you should probably think twice before admitting a weakness or failing to your team members, even if that failing has nothing at all to do with your company or your job. So next time you want to scream to the world you don’t know what you’re doing and it’s all going to hell, you better keep it to yourself, and have a select group of people that you can let your guard down with – and don’t work for you.

 

The business world demonstrates very different management styles – one more domineering and the other smoother and more inclusive. Both have meticulous attention to detail in common. The most effective leaders in the 21st century will need to lean toward the softer style of leadership because the more authoritarian style can work for a while, but only when complemented by other attributes.

Over to you now. What’s your more dominant style? What style does your people respond best to? Do you ever share your more vulnerable side in business? Have you found the right balance between authority and vulnerability?

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Happy Leaders = Happy Employees

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Leaders, stop being so hard on yourselves. We are living unprecedented times and COVID fatigue and burnout is seriously threatening the health and wellbeing of all. People are reaching the end of their ability to motivate themselves, and that is a very serious matter for any leader.

I am also witnessing so many of you taking things personally, absorbing more than you can handle, and trying to compensate for what your people isn’t able to deliver at times when things just got too hard too fast.

Let me remind you that your health and wellbeing must come first. Because without you being at your best, you simply cannot inspire the same of others. It’s no surprise that poor managers contribute significantly to employee disengagement and turnover. Employees don’t usually leave their company; they leave their manager or supervisor.

This is the time for you to choose self-care, forgiveness of yourself and others, and consistent endurance. Today we must actively work on creating a culture where mistakes become lessons, risks are encouraged, and innovation thrives.

For employees to love what they do, they must have leaders who are passionate, positive, and purposeful in their actions. Happy leaders build people up, not drag them down. And best of all, happiness is infectious. Happiness breeds happiness, and the end result is that happy leaders foster happy teams.

Amid all the chaos that COVID has brought with it, focus on exuding a sense of optimism and confidence to those within your sphere of influence. Aim to bring everyone together, no matter how bad things get, and promote loyalty and collaboration.

And no matter what, please take it easy on yourself and look after yourself. Because you are no good to anybody otherwise.

Seek happiness and spread happiness. Focus on feeling good about yourself irrespective of any external circumstances and watch in turn how your actions give others permission to feel good about themselves too.

To your success,
Isabel

#leadership #leadershiptips#leadershipdevelopment #LeadershipMatters

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Inspire Your People with Clarity and Simplicity

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LEADERS, YOU MAY BE OVERDOING IT… HERE’S WHY

 

Leaders are always looking for ways to inspire and motivate their people to drive results, stay engaged and give their best. In wanting to navigate the ongoing rapid changes and disruptions in the arena of global business, I often get asked by my clients how they can become masterful communicators, persuasive speakers, and impactful negotiators.

Whereas developing the competencies that enable you to communicate, influence and inspire your people are critical to your leadership success, they don’t deserve the hype they sometimes get.

The list of capabilities that leaders need to work on is big and complex. What we often miss is the fact that what our people across all the levels in the organization are asking for is clarity and simplicity, because without a clear, simple roadmap, you don’t know where you are going.

As I reflect on the many conversations I have every day with people from all over the world who serve in different leadership and support capacities, these two words – clarity and simplicity – capture their longings as well.

While change has always been a natural part of life’s unfolding, it hasn’t always moved as fast as it does now. Yet it’s probably not going to slow down, at least in the foreseeable future.

The faster things move, the more confused we become. Lines of separation or distinction increasingly blur. As the complexity deepens, people everywhere are longing for clear understanding of what is happening and a simple, straightforward way to approach life and work.

So how do we get there? How do we find clarity within the confusion of all that is happening? How do we find simple and straightforward ways to move forward? And is there a more effortless way to navigate through uncertainty and complexity?

Before you begin adding more tools or skills to your portfolio, consider this: when everything on the outside is constantly changing, look within yourself first and foremost. While we may not be able to find clarity and simplicity in our situations and circumstances right away, we can find clarity and simplicity within ourselves. It starts with knowing who we are and why we are here.

The better we know ourselves – the more tuned in we are to our own inner processes and experiences – the clearer we can be on what is important to us and where it will serve us to spend our time and energy.

It’s not just about what we can do – it’s about what we feel called to do. It’s about what brings us alive – what we long to bring to the world, and where we find the greatest sense of personal fulfillment and reward.

In other words, the more we know ourselves, the clearer and simpler life becomes. We practice putting our attention on situations and circumstances where we can make an impact – where we have a good chance of making a difference – and letting go of the rest.

It doesn’t mean that we don’t care about what is happening. And it doesn’t mean that the confusion and complexity within our circumstances or situations necessarily goes away.

What it does mean is that we are no longer looking for clarity and simplicity outside of us because we have found it inside of us. We know who we are, we know why we’re here, and we keep taking steps towards fulfilling that mission and vision. Instead of looking for clarity in our situations and circumstances, we look from a place of clarity inside of ourselves.

We are all players in this big complex game of life. The clearer we become as individuals and the simpler and more straightforward our own thoughts and actions, the better chance we have of navigating these complex and disruptive times in a calm and focused way. And the bonus just might be that our own clarity and simplicity will begin to spill over into our circumstances and situations as well.

As a leader, ask yourself three questions: Does the team feel inspired? Does the team have clarity on direction? Does the team have enough support?

Yes, there are thousands of books, courses and articles discussing leadership methodologies and numerous ways to help you inspire your people. And yet, there isn’t one perfect approach to leading. Each team has its own personality, rhythm, and nuances. Start by finding clarity and simplicity within in a complex and confusing world, and watch communicate it in simple terms to your people, so they can propel forward.

P.S. If you need some help getting started, reach out for a free, no obligation consultation. And if you enjoyed this blog post and found it helpful or inspiring, please share it with your friends and colleagues on social media. You are also welcome to make a comment below.

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Leadership Is a Balancing Art

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Leadership is a Balancing Act

I remember years ago when I was asked to head Revenue Management, starting from scratch, in a hotel and a team that had never heard of it. As methodical as it may seemed, I soon realised that Revenue Management was both a science and an art, and it was the constant balancing act of both that made it such a successful application. Once implemented, our yearly revenues sky-rocketed, and the hotel went onto becoming one of the highest performing properties in the entire state.

As I look back, what I remember most in being able to make it such a successful venture, was the constant recalibration and balancing act that occupied my daily working existence. And this is a learning that I can definitely apply to the field of leadership.

As a leader, you may feel like you are sometimes walking a tightrope, trying to navigate complexity and trying not to fall. In considering what made some of my clients succeed in their leadership roles, it was ultimately their leadership balancing capability that provided the key to their success or failure as a leader.

Understanding and finding your leadership balance is one way for leaders to take the next step in their development. You need to balance your organization’s goals with your employee’s individual needs. You need to find the right balance between commanding and motivating from a distance, and being able to serve as an up close and personal coach and mentor as required. You are also required to provide a sense of direction, vision, context and goals to drive and achieve the desired business outcomes, whilst at the same time creating space for your people to be self-starting, self-orienting, creative individuals that can perform highly.

Furthermore, you need to find the right balance between dedicating time and focus to today and tomorrow, so you can have a well-tuned operation whilst also being able to move the company forward over the long haul. Execution and foresight are both critical.  You need to develop the ability to have one foot firmly planted in today and one foot firmly planted well into the future – and balance both in real time.

The most effective leaders strive for the right balance in the moment. They don’t search for some perfect balance point with no need for future thought or adjustment. Avoiding extremes and consciously maintaining your balance will become part of your thoughts and actions as a leader forever, and the sooner you adopt this mindset, the more effective you will become.

Over to you. How have you personally achieved balance as a leader? What are your biggest obstacles when trying to balance it all out?

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com

Leading with Resilience

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Getting through the next stages of the pandemic may be the toughest leadership challenge of all. Leading when you and your team are feeling foggy, cranky and fatigued is not easy. Your ongoing efforts may be met with scepticism and annoyance, and there are few who may still have some battery left to strategize for the future.

Leaders, this is no time to give up on determination, focus and energy. The pandemic fatigue is real, however the focus must continue to be on examining your resilience and that of your team.

From the initial shock, to the stamina we all somehow developed in the first year of the pandemic, we have now moved into a period that requires some rewiring and calls for perseverance, endurance, and even defiance against the times we live in.

How do you find the mental strength to lead through the final stages? Focus on the important, not just the urgent. Continue to be compassionate, whilst also driving your people to action. Finally, find ways to energize your team. Change things up often. Ask them to share with you what’s needed to continue to move forward and get through it all. Share success stories, set up competitions, divide long projects into sprints, communicate often. But also shorten endless zoom meetings, cut non-essential tasks or projects, and allow constructive and honest feedback in your teams. What matters here is that you do something. The how matters less.

Setbacks are temporary. The pandemic is going to go away sometime, and we must resolve to continue to act despite the obstacles faced. Resilience is the most fundamental quality for navigating through chaos. Lead with a resilient mindset. Embed the belief that you have the ability and the strength to overcome obstacles, and that performance involves a constant balancing act. Managing your own mind and deciding to take charge of your circumstances – and helping others do the same – is where you find mental strength for the last mile.

To your success,

Isabel

#leadership #ResilienceAmidstChallenges #resilientleadership #successmindset

Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com
 
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