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Most Leaders Are Afraid of This Question

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 4 Comentarios

“But if I get someone ready to take on my role, I’ll be let go”. I guess that’s just a risk we all face, whether we develop our people to eventually take over our role or not.
What could also happen, and one of the key factors of my success when I worked in hotels, is the fact that as your team steps into your role, you free yourself up for even bigger and better things.
“It’s so difficult to find the right talent”. “We had to let go or the last few new hires. They weren’t a good fit, they didn’t show loyalty to our business, it was hard to get them to commit to delivering our expectations, didn’t get along with other employees…” – these are just some of the comments that I consistently hear from businesses all over the world.
New generations in the workforce have different needs to the ones you once had when you started work. They want to do work that matters, they want to feel heard and valued, and they want to know that the company is going to invest in their career growth. In exchange of that, they will show up for you with a level of capacity we rarely had before, and loyalty to help you accomplish your business goals.
Rather than keeping the focus on attracting new talent, let me ask you, what are you doing to keep the talent you currently have? Most times, when I walk into companies, I am surprised at how much talent exists already. On many cases, many employees are operating at a much lower capacity than they’re able to, getting bored and eventually becoming disengaged, until they start looking for another role in a company that will give them that zest for meaning and achievement.
Don’t wait for that to happen. Start looking at your people in terms of their potential, not their current performance. Also, keep an eye out for your own replacement, and start grooming them now. I challenge you to acknowledge that pretty much every single one of your employees can be challenged and stretched beyond their current job description.
We are so quick to do what we’ve always done. Current times dictate different measures. Take time to pause, reflect, and consider who should be doing what, who should be doing more, and who should be sitting in a different desk, rather than doing it all yourself.
I realise you could always do it faster and better, by if you keep it up, your people will never know what they’re capable of, and worse, you’ll never understand what you are all capable of achieving when working together towards a common goal. Let me assure you, on many cases, your people will probably have newer, more innovative ideas that will help change the course of your business for the better – even better you could have done it yourself.
Let go of your insecurities. The measure of a great leader is not how highly it performs, but how high the leader’s followers are able to raise up. Keep this focus in the long-term, and the results will be powerful.
I can honestly say in my own personal experience, as well as having coached and mentored hundreds of Executives worldwide, that empowering and mentoring others has always resulted into career growth and freeing up time and space to take on new and exciting projects.
So, allow me to leave you with this question:
Who Will Replace You, and Is He or She Ready?
Please leave your comments below. I’d love to hear from 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

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONFIDENCE IN LEADERSHIP

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 67 Comentarios

Do you find it difficult to make tough decisions? Do you second guess yourself? Are you able to decisively address conflict within your teams or peers? Do you feel threatened by other people’s performance at work? Can you comfortably lead meetings with authority? Are you open to give – and receive – both positive and constructive feedback? Do you become defensive when challenged? When it comes to leadership, do you consider confidence to be as important as knowledge and experience?

WITHOUT CONFIDENCE, THERE’S NO LEADERSHIP.

When you think of a confident leader, what do you have in mind? what is it that’s standing in your way of landing those positions you likely deserve? Chances are, it’s confidence.

At this moment, when so much change and uncertainty abounds, we need leaders who really know themselves, are self-managed, and are courageous enough to move organisations forward. Simply put, we need leaders with confidence.

 

Confidence is the cornerstone of leadership. Leaders may learn to be effective problem solvers, more decisive, better communicators, apply coaching and mentoring skills to their teams, and yet, without the leader’s ability to believe in themselves, true leadership will only exist in title.

 

Leaders who lack confidence, no matter how qualified they may be for the position, will find it difficult to lead others. Attempts at leadership development without first building confidence will provide very shaky foundations.

 

Leadership is about having the confidence to instill confidence in others. A leader is someone who is expected to make deliberate and accurate decisions appropriately, for which confidence is the driving force.  

 

Having confidence in yourself will allow you to make spontaneous decisions without hesitation and without being afraid to commit to the outcomes.

 

Confidence is crucial and basic in leading a company and its people through change.  Leaders must direct and motivate their groups to change how they work to develop a better future.

Low self-confidence divides average leaders from great leaders. Contrary to belief, the more responsibility we gain or the bigger the job title, the more we may doubt our abilities. The only advantage confident-seeming people have is that they’re able to take action and project confidence, even if they’re feeling terrified inside.

If you are in a position of leadership, it’s not an accident. Don’t give in to self-doubt. Others believe in you, so prove them right.

Confidence comes from experience, so you must have the willingness to try new things, take action and put your ideas in motion. This boldness to do builds confidence, even when the outcomes aren’t always successful.

The pandemic has driven many of us to feel stuck, frozen in fear. This is no time to give in or seek permission from others. Focus on the power of growth, leadership and moving everyone forward.

Today’s tragic climate requires of us leaders to build the self-confidence needed to handle any situation courageously. At the end of the day, all of life is a risk of some kind. Most actions do have a degree of uncertainty, and taking risks do often pay off.

You take a risk whenever you venture into the unknown, whether you  are crossing a busy street, starting a business or leading a group of people. So the issue is not whether you take risks. The issue is how comfortable are you willing to get at taking risks. Leading confidently and courageously is about taking the right risks for the right reasons so you can steer in pursuit of the right goals and objectives.

Growing through your insecurities isn’t for the faint-hearted. Venturing into new opportunities and experiences will shape you into a more confident leader. So keep moving forward, and keep finding better ways to fix what’s getting on your way, that’s the safest risk.

More than ever before, the world needs leaders who are willing to chart new landscapes. Join us, and watch your people build the confidence needed to shape a better future.

Now I’d love to hear from you: What is one thing you will practice to build confidence in yourself and your leadership skills? Leave a comment below and please share with those you know need to hear this.

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 DEAL WITH UNCERTAINTY

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 5 Comentarios
grayscale photography of chessboard game
HOW TO DEAL WITH UNCERTAINTY
Do you want to feel comfortable being uncomfortable? Then read on!

Now, on the topic of DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY...

Most humans generally crave certainty, and yet we have to live with constant uncertainty. In organizations, uncertain comes in two kinds: prediction uncertainty and decision uncertainty. Prediction uncertainty comes from operating in a VUCA environment, where we know that “best guesses” may turn out badly wrong, because we don’t have enough information, because of constant change and because there may be important factors we simply aren’t aware of. Decision uncertainty occurs when we cannot make our own plans, because these are dependent upon others within a chain. (When the chain becomes a loop, with each party dependent on the others, it is even harder!)

There is no simple remedy for either of these forms of uncertainty. The best we can do is be highly flexible in responding to change and to monitor closely the boundaries of certainty and uncertainty. A simple way to approach the latter is to categorise it into four areas:

  • Certainty – what we are reasonably or very sure about and can therefore plan for
  • Partial certainty – high probabilities, but with some risk factors to any prediction, for which we can plan with contingencies and multiple scenarios
  • Uncertainty – what we have limited control over and need rapid reaction plans for
  • Chaos – what we can’t predict or plan for, and so for which we need to have very strong radar

It would be very beneficial for you to think through what lies in each category, how appropriate your current response is, and how you can improve your responses. I am sure that you will find that once you break it down and see it down in paper, it won’t be nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be in your head. Two key questions are:

  • What process changes do you need to make?
  • What mindset changes do you need to make?

Process and mindset changes are typically both required in a robust approach to managing uncertainty. Process changes relate to how you gather and validate information, but also to how you use that information to make decisions. In essence, you create strategies to deal with certain situations, which always follow the same pathway. Critical questions here are:

  • How can you make better, faster decisions, even when you have less certain data?
  • How can you persuade others to do so?
  • How can data analytics shift issues up the ladder from chaos towards certainty?
  • When is it right to decide not to decide?

Mindset changes relate to how we perceive uncertainty in the first place. Research into high performing teams internationally reveals a common characteristic in that they welcome and are highly resilient to change. The key to this seems to be how they view change – as an opportunity, rather than as a threat. It’s normal for people to see the downsides of disruptive change before the positives. For example, early studies of the likely impact of Artificial Intelligence forecast massive job losses in the developed economies. Just a few years later, studies indicate that there will instead be more, different jobs created than lost.

Useful issues to also explore here include:

  • What opportunities can you see in the uncertainties you are aware of?
  • What positive outcomes can you envision from creating uncertainty? (That is being the disruptor, not the disrupted?)
  • How can you increase your change resilience?

It’s helpful to bear in mind that fear blunts our creativity. Ideally, we are looking to replace fear of change with curiosity about change, by asking questions, such as:

  • What are your greatest hopes for the outcomes of this current uncertainty?
  • What can you do, alone or with others, to make those hopes more likely outcomes?
  • How do you want to be seen in relation to the changes happening? (A blocker, a supporter, or “the calming voice of reason”?)
  • How much more effective would you be, if you chose not to worry about what might happen?

Being the calming voice of reason may be healthiest for both the team, or the organisation and yourself.  Letting go of your fears and choosing not to worry (for example, by making contingency plans for worst case scenarios) allows you to take a balanced view of the threats and opportunities, and more importantly, you can emerge with a reputation for both enabling change to happen and reducing its negative effects, both during and after the period of uncertainty. So, you benefit by enhancing your own reputation and at the same time look after your health by worrying less.

I hope this helps. After this, we can move onto your busy schedule and your ability to create harmony by looking at time strategically. I have an exercise we can cover on our next session that will help.
Please let me know if this offer you some clarity. And if you want to discuss further, message me and we can arrange a short call before our next session.
OK, so regarding the more abstract work, in getting to understand about what kind of situations make you feel uncertain, let me share with you some of the most common fears that hold people back. These are all closely linked to feeling out of control, inability to make decisions, being afraid of failing, etc. Go through each one of those and consider which one are deeply rooted within you, their origins, and their validity nowadays (typically you form a belief in your childhood, which has nothing to do with how you display yourself as a current adult. 
The 10 biggest fears are:
 
1. The fear of inadequacy – not being skilled enough. 
 
2. The fear of uncertainty – being afraid of the unknown – you need to explore this area more in detail, what kind of uncertainty do you fear the most? why? In whatever you do, anticipation and vision are both necessary ingredients to fight this fear.
 
3. The fear of failure. 
 
4. The fear of rejection.
 
5. The fear of missing out. 
 
6. The fear of change. 
 
7. The fear of losing control.
 
8. The fear of being judged.
 
9. The fear of something bad happening.
 
10. The fear of getting hurt. 
 
Following this work, you could look at a creating a reframe to the word uncertainty. A reframe is creating a new perspective, a new point of view that perhaps you hadn’t considered before. For example, some people consider uncertainty as an adventure, as they know that the most significant moments, decisions and choices typically come with uncertainty and fear. Without uncertainty, we have a safe, contained, and predictable experience; we don’t have an adventure. 
Another way to look at it for instance, would be to consider that achievement always sits in the crossroads between fear and doubt – aka uncertainty. 
 
Another helpful idea would be to be open to possibility. What I mean by this is that instead of expecting the future to deliver something specific, to focus on what you will do to create the experience and outcome you want. Your actions and intentions are within your control.  Loose your hold on your predetermined and acceptable outcome. Flexibility, grace and being open to possibility allows you to fully engage with the experience, and to take corrective action well ahead of time if needed. 
 
Also consider the fact that uncertainty as such is just a feeling, not a fact. Consider it as just that, an emotion, and when you do get this feeling, you can identify it and take a step back, breathe, become mindful, go for a walk, ect, anything that will help you break the pattern and shift your thinking towards clarity and peace. 
 
It takes practice Stephanie… a lifetime of practice! 
When you are paralysed by fear or overwhelmed by anxiety of the unknown it leaves you unable to experience the only aspect of life you can control: the present. 
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11 Ways Successful People Overcome Uncertainty

Our brains are hardwired to make much of modern life difficult. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with uncertainty. On the bright side, if you know the right tricks, you can override your brain’s irrational tendencies and handle uncertainty effectively.

Our brains give us fits when facing uncertainty because they’re wired to react to it with fear. In a recent study, a Caltech neuroeconomist imaged subjects’ brains as they were forced to make increasingly uncertain bets—the same kind of bets we’re forced to make on a regular basis in business.

The less information the subjects had to go on, the more irrational and erratic their decisions became. You might think the opposite would be true—the less information we have, the more careful and rational we are in evaluating the validity of that information. Not so. As the uncertainty of the scenarios increased, the subjects’ brains shifted control over to the limbic system, the place where emotions, such as anxiety and fear, are generated.

This brain quirk worked great eons ago, when cavemen entered an unfamiliar area and didn’t know who or what might be lurking behind the bushes. Overwhelming caution and fear ensured survival. But that’s not the case today. This mechanism, which hasn’t evolved, is a hindrance in the world of business, where uncertainty rules and important decisions must be made every day with minimal information.

As we face uncertainty, our brains push us to overreact. Successful people are able to override this mechanism and shift their thinking in a rational direction. This requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it’s no wonder that—among the 1 million-plus people that TalentSmarthas tested—90% of top performers have high EQs. They earn an average of $28,000 more per year than their low-EQ counterparts do.

To boost your EQ, you have to get good at making sound decisions in the face of uncertainty, even when your brain fights against this. Fear not! There are proven strategies that you can use to improve the quality of your decisions when your emotions are clouding your judgment. What follows are eleven of the best strategies that successful people use in these moments.

1. They quiet their limbic systems

The limbic system responds to uncertainty with a knee-jerk fear reaction, and fear inhibits good decision-making. People who are good at dealing with uncertainty are wary of this fear and spot it as soon as it begins to surface. In this way, they can contain it before it gets out of control. Once they are aware of the fear, they label all the irrational thoughts that try to intensify it as irrational fears—not reality—and the fear subsides. Then they can focus more accurately and rationally on the information they have to go on. Throughout the process, they remind themselves that a primitive part of their brain is trying to take over and that the logical part needs to be the one in charge. In other words, they tell their limbic system to settle down and be quiet until a hungry tiger shows up.

2. They stay positive

Positive thoughts quiet fear and irrational thinking by focusing your brain’s attention on something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When you’re stressing over a tough decision and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day, and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can’t think of anything from the current day, reflect on the previous day or days or even the previous week, or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event. The point here is that you must have something positive that you’re ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative due to the stress of uncertainty.

3. They know what they know—and what they don’t

When uncertainty makes a decision difficult, it’s easy to feel as if everything is uncertain, but that’s hardly ever the case. People who excel at managing uncertainty start by taking stock of what they know and what they don’t know and assigning a factor of importance to each. They gather all the facts they have, and they take their best shot at compiling a list of things they don’t know, for example, what a country’s currency is going to do or what strategy a competitor will employ. They actually try to identify as many of these things as possible because this takes away their power.

4. They embrace that which they can’t control

We all like to be in control. After all, people who feel like they’re at the mercy of their surroundings never get anywhere in life. But this desire for control can backfire when you see everything that you can’t control or don’t know as a personal failure. People who excel at managing uncertainty aren’t afraid to acknowledge what’s causing it. In other words, successful people live in the real world. They don’t paint any situation as better or worse than it actually is, and they analyze the facts for what they are. They know that the only thing they really control is the process through which they reach their decisions. That’s the only rational way to handle the unknown, and the best way to keep your head on level ground. Don’t be afraid to step up and say, “Here’s what we don’t know, but we’re going forward based on what we do know. We may make mistakes, but that’s a lot better than standing still.”

5. They focus only on what matters

Some decisions can make or break your company. Most just aren’t that important. The people who are the best at making decisions in the face of uncertainty don’t waste their time getting stuck on decisions where the biggest risk is looking foolish in front of their co-workers. When it comes down to it, almost every decision contains at least a small factor of uncertainty—it’s an inevitable part of doing business. Learning to properly balance the many decisions on your plate, however, allows you to focus your energy on the things that matter and to make more informed choices. It also removes the unnecessary pressure and distraction caused by a flurry of small worries.

6. They don’t seek perfection

Emotionally intelligent people don’t set perfection as their target because they know there’s no such thing as a perfect decision in an uncertain situation. Think about it: human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you’re always left with a nagging sense of failure, and you end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently, instead of enjoying what you were able to achieve.

7. They don’t dwell on problems

Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems that you’re facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress, which hinders performance. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and improves performance. Emotionally intelligent people don’t allow themselves to become preoccupied with the uncertainties they face. Instead, they focus all their attention and effort on what they can do, in spite of the uncertainty, to better their situation.

8. They know when to trust their gut

Our ancestors relied on their intuition—their gut instinct—for survival. Since most of us don’t face life-or-death decisions every day, we have to learn how to use this instinct to our benefit. Often we make the mistake of talking ourselves out of listening to our gut instinct, or we go too far in the other direction and impulsively dive into a situation, mistaking our assumptions for instincts. People who successfully deal with uncertainty recognize and embrace the power of their gut instincts, and they rely on some tried-and-true strategies to do so successfully:

They recognize their own filters. They’re able to identify when they’re being overly influenced by their assumptions and emotions or by another person’s opinion, for example. Their ability to filter out the feelings that aren’t coming from their intuition helps them focus on what is.

They give their intuition some space. Gut instincts can’t be forced. Our intuition works best when we’re not pressuring it to come up with a solution. Albert Einstein said he got his best ideas while sailing, and when Steve Jobs was faced with a tough problem, he’d head out for a walk.

They build a track record. People who deal well with uncertainty take the time to practice their intuition. They start by listening to their gut on small things and seeing how it goes so that they’ll know whether they can trust it when something big comes around.

9. They have contingency plans . . .

Staying on top of uncertainty is as much about planning for failure as it is about hoping for the best. Experts at handling uncertainty aren’t afraid to admit that they could be wrong, and that frees them up to make detailed, rational, and transparent contingency plans before taking action. Successful people know they aren’t always going to make the right decision. They know how to absorb and understand mistakes so that they can make better decisions in the future. And they never let mistakes get them down for too long.

10. . . . but they don’t ask, “What if?”

“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry, and there’s no place for them in your thinking once you have good contingency plans in place. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Successful people know that asking “what if?” will only take them to a place they don’t want, or need, to go to.

11. When all else fails, they breathe

You have to remain calm to make good decisions in the face of uncertainty. An easy way to do this lies in something that you have to do every day anyway—breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing trains your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and quiets distracting thoughts. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought—this is sure to happen at the beginning—and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to twenty, and then start again from one. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over. This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to lodge permanently inside your brain.

Bringing It All Together

The ability to strategically manage ambiguity is one of the most important skills you can cultivate in an increasingly uncertain business environment. Try the strategies above, and your ability to handle uncertainty will take a huge step in the right direction.

How do your skills measure up? What do you do when faced with uncertainty? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Women in Business: Why Thailand Is a Success Story in Women Leadership

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 1 comentario

Key Takeaways from Women Leading Businesses in Thailand

Last week, I was invited to attend an event organised by the Embassy of the Netherlands – Women in Business: Why Thailand is a success story in women leadership.

This was a blended in person / virtual event, and the takeaways were so great, I wanted to share them with you all.

Following the oficial opening and introduction by Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, and Peter Potman, Deputy Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, we received a detailed account as to what makes Thailand the country with the highest number of women leaders.

Stressing the importance of continuing to address the untapped potential in women, aided by all research concluding that companies with more women leaders have higher revenues and better performance, the speakers and panel aimed to discover what makes Thailand so successful in leading the way of female leadership, and how to create a more gender balanced board all over.

 

Melea Cruz, Partner at Grant Thornton Thailand presented their 2020 Women in Business report, sharing some insightful facts and figures.

The report reveals that Thailand has a greater percentage of women in senior leadership positions than both the Asia-Pacific region and the global average. In Thailand’s mid-market companies, women hold 32% of senior leadership positions, with the global average of 27% as well as the APAC average of 26%.

Thailand is also performing comparatively well when it comes to having women in the very highest positions of power: 24% of CEOs / Managing Directors in Thailand are women, compared to 20% worldwide and only 13% in Asia-Pacific.

Although we are heading in the right direction, these numbers are nowhere near as high we they need to be. Beyond simple questions of fairness, a greater diversity of people in business and government means more perspectives to consider – and ultimately better strategic decision-making and better execution.

The target across the world is a more gender balanced board, where women need to take a minimum of 30% of board representation. Only then can you truly reap the benefits of gender diversity, and more ideas and perspectives leading to better decision making. 

Ms Cruz said that more and more businesses in Thailand are looking to build on this trend towards equality, actively working to improve their gender balance, with initiatives such as enabling flexible working, creating an inclusive culture, and ensure equal access to developmental opportunities.  

It is worth noting also that the Thai government is lagging behind the private sector on this issue, and that equal participation is a fundamental step towards inclusive governance and an equitable society – the best way to bring about public policies that genuinely address the needs of all citizens. 

Melea Cruz also took some time to discuss the effect of Covid-19 in women in leadership. She explained that working women are being impacted in profound ways, facing tremendous challenges, and commonly taking on extra duties at home, while continuing to excel in their careers. The negative impact was overall far greater than that of their male counterparts. 

Women have had to work from home, do house chores, take care of their kids, support them through online learning, needing to adopt a 24/7 connectivity strategy to cope with the additional demands, leading in many cases to exhaustion and burnout. 

During the event, we were also treated to a panel of highly successful women, on a highly anticipated topic: Key success factors for women leadership in the business sector.

The panelists, from left to right:

  • Vira-Anong Chiranakhorn Phutrakul, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking, Citibank Thailand
  • Dr. Sutapa Amornvivat, CEO SCB Abacus Co. Ltd
  • Pranapda Phornprapha, Director Siam Motors Group

Someof the highlights and recommendations brought forward by the panelists were as follows:

  • Companies need to help more women reach more senior roles, starting by amending their policies to be more diversity inclusive.
  • Women need to take overseas assignments in order to widen their perspectives, get out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves to succeed.  
  • Whatever your role, you must do it with passion. You need to nurture a mindset that no matter the job you do, you are making a difference.
  • Apply the rule of 33 – to elevate your level of success, spend your time wisely, with this rule: 33% of your time must be spent with your team and subordinates, 33% with your peers, and the remainder 33% with people above you, whether a boss, mentor or expert.
  • Apply curiosity to everything you do and become a life long learner. Close your performance gaps, upgrade your digital skills, and anything else that will help you get closer to your goal. Seek your ambitions and find ways to balance it all out.
  • Make your team your motivation. We need to create a culture of inclusion, and become active supporters of flexible working hours, access to childcare, options to work from home, etc. Men must also be accommodated for outside of work so they can assist with the house, kids, parents, etc. 
  • Don’t try to be one of the boys. Don’t lose your femenine side – it’s one of your biggest strengths. Some female traits may be frowned upon (i.e. men=assertive / women= bossy), don’t fall into any stereotypes. 
  • Be who you are, and develop an authentic leadership style. Harness and leverage your more femenine traits, such as empathy, nurture & develop others, etc.
  • Inspire your team and build their talents. They will help you succeed. 
  • One of the biggest barriers of entry for women is their own mindset. Women must have clear goals, and a plan to get them done. Women must adapt and have a willingness to change. They must also create shared goals and responsibilities with support networks. They must ask for help, starting with their circle of influence (family, friends, immediate work group, etc). Women need to become more strategically familiar, keep promoting the agenda more, and exert influence as much as possible. Become more visible, your voice matters. 
  • To inspire change, start from within first, then your family and friends. Encourage your daughters to do anything they want, regardless of gender bias. Also find role models (both male and female, formal and informal).
  • Leadership is non-gender. There are no specific male – female traits that make a great leader. However, it is worth noting that out of the 19 key leadership traits of great leaders, women are naturally good at 17 out of 19. 🙂 
  • Find sponsors – whether men who belief in your ability to climb up the ladder or great female mentors and sponsors. Make yourself visible and create opportunities for people to take a chance of you, and when you get there, do the same for other women. 
  • Creating a more diverse top tier is not a men/women issue. We are all in this together. We must continue to educate everyone and continue to make a business case in favour of gender diversity. 

A big thank you to the Embassy of Netherlands for inviting me to attend such an insightful, inspiring and empowering event. My biggest takeaway?

Having worked as a female senior leader myself, founded my own business and actively coaching, mentoring and training women in business worldwide, this event left a much greater impact in me than previous ones. The highly successful women who presented their views and opinions on the topic helped all of us bridge the gap between the women who aspire to take on the big roles, and the women who are already doing it, normalising the somehow distorted idea we make in our heads.

These were real women, with real lives and real struggles, just like the rest of us. Life is what you make of it, and they all showed real strength and determination in wanting to work on making it all work – these were not women who dedicated their lives to their career in isolation. These were mothers, daughters and bossess who care greatly about leaving this world a little bit better than they found it, and in doing so, I hope they inspire many more women to follow suit, because it is certainly accessible to us all.

To your succes,

Isabel

  • A warm welcome in true Dutch style at the beautiful Ambassador’s grounds
  • Residence of Ambassador of Netherlands

LEADERS – STOP AVOIDING THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 20 Comentarios

LEADERS – STOP TIPTOEING AROUND THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM!

We all do it – some more than others. An important topic, a big decision, a difficult question, or controversial issue that everyone knows about but nobody mentions or discusses because it makes people feel uncomfortable or afraid. This is one of the biggest performance blockers for leaders all over.

Many apply the “tiptoeing around” strategy, dedicating time, energy and effort into avoiding dealing directly with the problem itself. We feel apprehensive, insecure or worried about offending or annoying others, or not being able to successfully resolve the situation.

I witness those elephants in pretty much every leader I coach, irrespective of location, industry, background or competency level. I watch capable, talented, qualified leaders do anything in their power to avoid the root cause, letting certain things go, hoping that things will be resolved by themselves.

Well, news flash:

❌ The issue isn’t going away by itself,

❌ The longer you ignore an issue, the worse it becomes

❌ A miracle cure won’t land in your lap, and

❌ Divine intervention is not coming❗️⁉️

As a leader, you must get comfortable being uncomfortable, and learn to confront and engage in conflict and discomfort head on. How you respond to the elephant is a huge test of leadership.

I assure you, your people see the elephant too, and everyone feels the discomfort and no one wants to bring it up. Instead, everyone tiptoes around it, talking about it behind closed doors.

You have to stop tip toeing around the situation, otherwise:

👉  Things will progressively get worse

👉  People’s productivity and overall engagement will drop

👉  Nobody will feel safe speaking up

👉  Your credibility and ability to influence others will disappear

👉  Relationships will hit rock bottom

👉  You may lose your top performers

👉  Your work as a leader will get tougher and more difficult

 

Rather than spending your energy avoiding conflict, you must keep your eye on the opportunities that tackling conflict could create instead, such as higher levels of performance, a culture of openness and higher accountability, and a happier and more engaged workforce. Acting courageously will help you and your people reach new heights in both performance and overall satisfaction, equipping you to lead and win in today’s complex and turbulent world.

How to Deal With the Elephant 🐘

This is a hard question and sometimes the answer is not easy. A great deal depends on the circumstances, the support you have, and whether the relationship is in good standing. At the end of the day, your own values will drive your decision on what you think should be done.

First of all, acknowledge that there is an elephant, and plan to address it at an appropriate place and time. Your focus needs to be on tackling head on any elephants that show up, the sooner the better. You must consistently reinforce the idea – and act on it – that tiptoeing around issues will not be tolerated. Instead, you must promote a culture of direct, open and transparent communication, where wrongful assumptions, dishonesty, poor or destructive behaviour or lack of performance won’t stand a chance.

This may seem like a big ask if you’re not used to facing areas that make you feel vulnerable, yet you simply cannot expect your people to follow suit if you don’t lead the way with open and honest feedback and sharing of bad news. When battling elephants in the room, you must create a level playing field where everyone feels safe, trusted and valued. I guarantee you, it is harder to think about implementing these changes than to actually apply them. It doesn’t take much time getting used to tackling elephants, and you’ll be able to witness some real quick wins early on, helping you get more comfortable sooner than you think.  

As a leader, when faced with difficult conversations or situations, you have a choice to make. You either address the elephant in the room, or you avoid bringing up difficult topics. Don’t let uncomfortable conversations get on the way of your leadership potential. Build respect and trust in your people by practising direct, honest communication, even if the facts are unpleasant. Transform the elephant into an obstacle that people can tackle together before it turns into a full-fledged circus!

So, are you ready to confront the “big elephant in the room,” and manage the elephants living and thriving in your organization? I’d love to hear from you. And if you have any ideas you feel like sharing that might be helpful to others, please share them in the comments section 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

SHOULD LEADERS APOLOGISE?

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 1 comentario

👀👀👉*** 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐄? ***

The answer may surprise you…

 

Nowadays, it seems like we are constantly hearing about public figures making controversial statements that carry heavy demands for apologies and /or consequences.

 

It would make sense that if leaders – corporate, political or otherwise – make a mistake or make an insensitive statement, a sincere apology would be the right course of action. It would certainly help them save face, demonstrate character and make peace with the public. But surprisingly, recent research by Columbia University shows that, following a blunder, apologizing might not be the right way to go.

 

The experiment tested public response to leaders’ apologies. And the results were surprising: “The evidence suggests that when a prominent figure apologizes for a controversial statement, individuals are either unaffected or become more likely to desire that the individual be punished.”

 

These findings validate the theory that apologizing might make public figures appear weak and risk averse, which may make them less likeable. So if you find yourself saying or doing the wrong thing, apologizing may not necessarily help.

 

Regardless of what research shows, I am of the opinion that you shouldn’t stop apologizing too quickly. However, it would be important to consider in what kind of instances you’d be apologizing in a leadership capacity – and your everyday life too.

 

If it serves an important purpose, the offence is of serious consequence, or if it’s appropriate that you as the leader assume responsibility for it… all of these will certainly have a positive outcome. Yet apologies aren’t necessary in all of the cases.

 

Bottom line, if you’ve done something that has major negative consequences for someone else, it’s important to acknowledge it if you value the health of those relationships. If you’re just apologizing to smooth things over or difuse the situation, you may need to consider what those kind of apologies may do to your authority or status. A leader that apologizes often over trivial things may lose credibility for those who want a confident, assertive person leading their path to success.

 

One thing is for sure, if you’ve messed up, whether you decide to apologize or not, whatever you do, be sincere and authentic. Don’t just say “I’m sorry”, follow up also up with an acknowledgement of responsibility. This will help you rebuild trust with people.

 

So is an apology the right move? Well, it really depends on what’s occurred and why you’re apologizing. But whenever you do decide to make an apology, make sure you come across as heartfelt and authentic—because if you truly are sorry, you want your audience to know.

 

To your success,

Isabel x

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

WHAT LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT…

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 36 Comentarios
 

WHAT LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT…

Whether we intentionally begin our coaching conversations on the topic or not, somehow this topic always takes centre stage: TRUST.

 

Most of my clients acting in a leadership capacity are focused on excelling in leading and keeping their people motivated and engaged with the vision they seek to achieve. Initial conversations may be focused around leadership styles, brand, behaviours and qualities of great leaders. But when it comes to leadership effectiveness, what it all comes down to – first and foremost – is trust.

 

Leadership is all about trust. The first job of any leader is to inspire trust. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team. All of the duties a leader performs begin and end with trust. With trust, a leader can align individuals into a high-performing team capable of achieving the organization’s mission and vision.

 

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” — Stephen Covey

 

The leader who does not establish trust will have no followers. Trust is the primary attribute associated with leadership, and trust that is broken can have a negative effect on a group’s performance. People are unlikely to follow someone they think is dishonest, or someone they think will take advantage of them. Without trust, a leader will fail to inspire a productive team culture.

 

In a leadership context, trust means that employees expect their leaders to treat them well. The upside of this is that employees will feel comfortable being open with their leaders.

 

When your team trusts you as a leader, it increases commitment to team goals. Communication improves, and ideas flow more freely, increasing creativity, productivity, wellbeing in the workplace and corporate culture. Perhaps most important, in the hands of a trusted leader, employees are more comfortable with change and more willing to embrace a new vision.

HOW DO LEADERS BUILD TRUST?

 

To be effective, leaders need their team’s trust. Leaders build trust and collaboration by focusing on developing their people’s capabilities, rather than focusing on their limitations.

 

Inspiring trust in others is essential in motivating and inspiring team members. But building trust is no simple task. So how do the best leaders gain their people’s trust, so they can empower them to reach new heights?

 

To get that trust – or to get it back if you’ve lost it – leaders can do so by applying the following: 

 

1.Practice what you preach. What you think, say and do reveals how authentic you are as a leader. To be a trustworthy leader, you must first and foremost show up as your authentic self.

 

Trustworthy leaders are genuine people. They reinforce their values by demonstrating their commitment to them through their work and actions. Be aware of what message you’re communicating through not only your words, but also your actions.

 

No one can trust a leader they believe is dishonest or insincere. Avoid hiding your beliefs or behave differently in order to exercise your authority, and especially don’t hold yourself to a different standard than you hold your people.

 

Trustworthy leaders create a safe work environment where all individuals are not only appreciated for being their true selves, but for being the company’s biggest asset.

2.Care deeply about your people. The most successful leaders build relationships with their people each and every day, placing this activity even ahead of business. They place people first – even at times of crisis – and they are aware that profits cannot be made without people.

To gain trust, you have to care about building trust, which means you have to care about the people whose trust you must earn. You only have to take a look at how different companies responded to the current pandemic to identify which leaders command their people’s trust and are helping them not only survive the hard times, but bounce back better and stronger than before. Because when people can trust that you have their back as the leader, they are willing to go that much farther to ensure that the organization thrives.

3.Welcome feedback, and act on it. The reality is that all leaders make mistakes. Without feedback, we simply cannot improve, and so leaders must be open and encourage constructive feedback, just as they need to be willing to give feedback to others.

 

Leaders must also be willing to act on it and demonstrate their willingness to improve. This in no way makes you weak or undermines your power, quite the opposite in fact. These are the kind of leaders that people are inspired to follow.

4.Create a safe workplace. Help others express themselves, their ideas, and vent their frustrations. Help employees achieve their goals. Give your employees room to grow their skills and self-esteem by offering them training and coaching.

5.Give trust to receive trust. Give your employees the necessary authority to accomplish their assignments and trust their decisions. Admit mistakes, acknowledge negative situations and sincerely apologize if necessary. Take responsibility for your actions.

 

However, beware of people who will take advantage of your eagerness to trust. Learn how to detect these toxic individuals and protect yourself from them.

 

6.Don’t allow communication to break down. Don’t withhold any information from your team. Misunderstandings are easily created and can decrease trust. Be open and honest with important company information. Don’t shy away from the truth. Actively listen to your team without speaking or emitting judgements, and involve your team in the decision-making process.

 

You can’t lead effectively without trust. Help your employees go above and beyond. Don’t just spend time and money trying to fix broken trust. Instead, take the time upfront to develop trusted relationships between you and your people. The more you take care of your employees, the better the company’s performance across all levels. With trust, you’ll inspire the best in your people and gain the support needed to succeed.

 

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

What’s Really Happening in Leadership Today

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 4 Comentarios
Allow me to leave you with this thought at the end of yet another week amid one of the craziest times in history:
Today, the struggles leaders face are both real and widespread. I watch in disbelief how some leaders are thrown into the deep end to sink or swim. They either figure out how to become a successful leader or fail and retreat disillusioned back as individual contributors, unlikely to step up into a leadership role again.
I feel frustration by the unbelievable potential that lies within many of us, never to be realised, because of past failed attempts at leading.
How often do you see high-performing individuals promoted into leadership roles? Yet the skills that enabled an individual to perform at a high level are rarely the same ones that will support them as an influential leader. That capacity will come with practice, education, mentoring and plenty of mistakes and failures along the way.
Stepping into a leadership role is one of the most courageous decisions in one’s career. In today’s world, a new kind of leader is required. A leader that consistently leads others by supporting people and the organization to grow intentionally through pursuing goals that stretch their skills, collaborating and fostering interdependence, opening doors of opportunity for others, and a commitment and passion for becoming better leaders.
No one is immune to facing new challenges. Leaders must understand the problems, identify what needs to be done now, and how they can impact the organization.
What’s happening in leadership today is going to end up costing all of us in the years to come. But when so many examples of current leadership are tied up with ego and distrust, you have to wonder where we’re heading.
The only way to avoid what’s coming is to find the people who are courageous enough to lead us in the right direction.
Strong leadership is now more important than ever. We need you. Most of us are not born leaders. Most leaders are made. And you can too. Choose to lead and help us make this world a better place.
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

TIME TO EMBRACE SMART WORK

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching 10 Comentarios

TIME TO EMBRACE SMART WORK

Become More Efficient and Come Out Stronger by Working Smarter, Not Harder

The coronavirus pandemic will have a lasting impact on the future of work. As the pandemic resets major work trends, I thought this would be a perfect time to also address the big elephant in the working room: the hard, long working hours that many of us give to work for the sake of a promotion, pay rise, unrealistic working demands, inflexible working cultures, over demanding managers, or simply because we got so used to working hard that we really don’t know how to turn it off and enjoy time with friends, family, hobbies, or however else we may choose to spend our time and energy.

This pandemic has caught all of us by surprise. And yet, despite facing difficult times, it has also allowed us to understand that there is a different way in which we can work and go about our lives, whilst remaining efficient and focused on delivering business results. Rather than panic, I’ve watched how many are actively working on what they can control, figuring out ways to work smarter and more efficiently for the sake of their work, their family, and their sanity. We may have been forced into a world we didn’t choose to be a part of, and yet, I believe that there are great learnings and opportunities to be exploited by going through these new world challenges.

In today’s ever-changing and often-chaotic business environment, organizations invested in succeeding must understand how to make change work when everything is changing. Allowing more employees to work from home, arranging more virtual meetings or holding online conferences alone won’t cut it. We are not just talking about cutting down on expensive and more time-consuming activities here. Your company’s survival in the long term is going to depend now more than ever on your ability to come up with smarter, leaner and more agile ways of working in order to be efficient, productive and stronger than ever before in the face of adversity.

Recent studies on how to “recession-proof” our businesses in order to avoid getting impacted from an economic downturn keep telling the same story, that agility and the capacity to adjust fast will be determining factors behind survival, as well as minimizing costs and being efficient. Learning to work smarter, not hard, will help companies and individuals accomplish all of this. Because what got us here won’t get us to where we need to go next. Change is unavoidable and it’s time we all embrace it.

This is often easier said than done though – without a clear plan and strategy for your workday in place, most people end up overcommitted, overwhelmed and overworked. Adapting to a more agile, effective and efficient way or working will require everyone’s participation and contribution. There are many issues that need resolving, such as looking at root causes, people not being team players, dominance, lack of communication, top-down management decisions, silo mentality, and the list goes on.

How to make working smarter the new way of working at an organizational level

To build the workforce you’ll need post-pandemic, you must focus less on roles — which group unrelated skills — and instead sharpen the skills needed to drive the organization’s competitive advantage and the workflows that fuel that advantage. Encourage employees to develop critical skills that potentially open up multiple opportunities for their career development, rather than preparing them for a specific next role. Offer greater career development support to employees in critical roles who lack critical skills, such as leadership, creativity, interpersonal skills, problem-solving and critical thinking or data analysis skills.

This shift will help you create a more responsive, resilient organization, by designing roles and structures around outcomes to increase agility and flexibility and formalize how processes can flex. As an added bonus, provide employees with varied, adaptive and flexible roles so they acquire cross-functional knowledge and training.

The partnership between Finance and HR as key strategic partners:

In order to navigate the way of doing business post-pandemic, the focus must not continue to be placed in finances alone to secure the company’s moves in the short-, mid- and long-term. In considering which moves will be of the greatest benefit to the long-term growth of companies, a clear emphasis needs to be placed in labour.

Quick and easy layoffs and reducing headcount at a time of crisis could have catastrophic consequences for the long-term survival of any business. Better, smarter options would include recruitment freezes, granted leave of absence, and pay cuts, options which must all be assessed with HR.

HR must therefore become a strategic partner moving forward. This is a unique opportunity for HR to be at the forefront of shaping the business to navigate through this challenging time.

A Finance / HR partnership at a strategic level can help companies take decisive valuable steps to ensure that they are not only responding well in the short term, but also positioning their company for success throughout the phases of economic recovery. Just as important as managing the cash flow is the health and wellbeing of employees. Take care of them and in return they will bring their best game. Moving forward, your people will judge organizations by the way in which they treat employees and their transparency, so become an employer of choice.

 

In today’s business environment, leaders are not the only ones who drive change. Now, everyone understands change and is a change agent. Also, experienced players are not the most important and innovative.

Nowadays, it is crucial to create leaders at all levels. A Deloitte recent global survey found that leadership is the #1 issue organisations face today, yet only 15% of companies are actively developing their talent. Without their own pool of potential leaders to develop and nurture, organizations are forced to recruit externally. This comes at a higher price, and often with mixed results.

Gone are the days when traditional leaders sat in their office and delivered orders that their workers carried out. This kind of top-down, information-sharing, decision-making and development-modelling is becoming increasingly ineffective. The very idea of what it is to be a leader is changing.

We must now consider ways in which to instil leadership at all levels, so that employees are informed, enabled and empowered to move company goals. As more organisations dismantle their traditional hierarchies, and as more traditional leaders retire, the need to establish leaders at all levels grows significantly.

Companies need to draw focus to discovering talent, and put potential leaders in positions that stretch them beyond their current skillsets. To attract and retain the top talent of the future, leadership at all levels must become a strategic imperative. How organisations do it is something they need to take their own lead on.

Your employees are under immense pressure to push themselves as far as they can, frequently facing their own breaking points, for the promise of a promotion or salary increase. But these perks no longer come as steadily, even in larger corporations.

So, not only are many work cultures more intense than they’ve ever been, employees aren’t even being compensated for the work they are doing. As you can imagine, that’s not good for your employees or your business. Studies show that overworked employees are actually less efficient, less productive and overall unhappier than their counterparts.

A study by Stanford University also found that when employees work more than 40 to 50 hours in a given week, they are two-thirds less productive. Two-thirds! This is not only detrimental to their quality of work, but it’s also dangerous to their mental health.

Most employees understand that there are certain days and weeks throughout the year when they will be required to work longer hours—like during month-end closings or leading up to a company event or organized trip. Yet, if they work like this every day, you could potentially be driving your employees to burnout.

To combat this, companies must promote physical health and improve the emotional wellbeing of employees. One of the biggest predictors of employees’ disengagement at work is doing very long hours, and being overwhelmed with too many things to do. With such burden on employees, it’s going to be difficult for you to retain your top talent.

In my personal opinion, it all starts with great leadership, by empowering and trusting employees with the right culture, tools, targets and processes. And this must continue with the employees, who need to demonstrate both the commitment and responsibility to earn the trust of leadership and their own peers. In other words, it’s everyone’s responsibility to make smart work work.

Employees look to their leaders to set an example of work ethic and also to set the culture of the company. If you lead from a distance—otherwise known as the “invisible CEO”—and employees see themselves and their colleagues doing all of the hard work, that will be the perception of your company, whether it’s true or not.

In a recent study, 52 percent of employees reported that they believed their leaders cared about the productivity of the company over them. If you expect your employees to remain committed to your business, you need to prove that you don’t value efficiency over their wellbeing.

Your company may be your life, but to your employees, it’s a career. You may have built a robust enough foundation within your company where you can delegate more tasks and step back from the day-to-day routine a bit more, but make sure you pay attention to both the expectations and work you’re putting on your team. They shouldn’t be grinding away more than you are.

Research from the Behance team found that placing importance on hours and physical presence over action and results leads to a culture of inefficiency – and anxiety. We must create an intention to change the way we view working hours, and proactively make a shift from work based on number of hours to results achieved within a timeframe.

This became a very clear concept for me personally years ago when I became both a new mum and a new GM in a new city and a new hotel. Very quickly I realised that, if I wanted to succeed and do well, I’d need to focus on creating results based on working smartly, so I could dedicate precious time with my baby.

I became familiar with Parkinson’s Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion – and realised soon after that with clarity and intentional action we can in fact become high performing, productive individuals in much less time and effort.

Employers need to appreciate the importance – and return on investment – of employees who work smart. The idea that the longer something takes to complete, the better quality it must be, is no longer justifiable.

Measure results, not time. A 12hr working day haunted by stress, interruptions, sleep deprivation, or overwhelm is not worth the 720 minutes it’s allotted. It’s a low-quality working day. You’d be foolish to expect that you can turn such dirty input into clear accomplishments. Instead, you need to actively work on increasing the purity and quality of your hours.

You can do that by asking yourself these simple questions to start helping you clarify important tasks and create more quality time:

  1. Do I need to be involved in this?
  2. Is this bringing me closer to my goal?
  3. Could this wait?
  4. Can I say no to this?
  5. Can someone else do it?
  6. Could this be replaced by something else that would help me generate quicker and better results?

One way to assist you with measuring results instead of time is by generating done lists. This is simply an ongoing log of everything you completed in a day. By keeping this list you’ll feel more motivated and focused since you can actually see what you accomplished. When you review your day, it also gives you a chance to celebrate your accomplishments, and helps you plan more effectively.

You are always choosing. Choose well. Your time is valuable – respect it with a solid plan, getting the rest you need to stay focused, and tuning into your passions and your customers. Once you start working smarter, the results will speak for themselves.

 

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel Valle PCC
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.
Más información disponible en www.isabelvalle.com.

Wanna Be an Effective Leader? It’s Not What You Think…

Publicado en por Publicado en Coaching

👉👉👉 WANNA BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER?
I am often asked how I develop leaders, and the most common traits that makes them successful. Truthfully, I haven’t found a simple answer to this. Rather than creating a box in which to define effective leadership, my work with leaders aims to build their own individual leadership box, in which they can excel at leading by being themselves, authentically.
Effective leaders lead people by having a sense of self-awareness, identity, honesty and passion, genuinely embodying their true selves into their leadership role.
We need to draw on the very essence of our values, beliefs, principles and morals and create a guiding compass in the job, not somebody else’s.
Authentic leadership holds making the most of our strengths, recognising and trading off our weaknesses and taking full self-accountability for the impact we have on others. What authentic leadership is not about is adopting the styles or traits of other leaders.
Authenticity is the alignment of thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing – consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust.
An in-depth study by the Harvard Business Review of effective leaders found that there is no “cookie cutter leader”. Every person interviewed had a different idea of what an ideal leader looks like, with each individual having a unique combination of characteristics, traits, skills and styles that led to their own success. The one common theme was that all the leaders were consciously or subconsciously taking in their real-world experiences continuously, and using those experiences to frame who they were at their core. As a result, they found the purpose of their leadership and learned that being authentic made them more effective.
The rampant pace of change in our world in itself requires agility, flexibility and adaptability of leadership styles and approaches to an ever- changing landscape.
Perhaps all of us striving to be our unique, authentic selves will create a collective array of authentic perspectives, values and principles to complex situations.
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

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