A great leader realises that in order to ensure they achieve the best results, they must include the expertise and knowledge of their team in the decision making process. This approach means that leaders get the best from their people through empowerment, encouraging contributions and nurturing talent - rather than simply rewarding good work.
Far from just developing their own skills and knowledge, the great leader is determined to develop those around them by including them in key decisions, identifying and recognising the talents of people within the team and generally creating an environment where everyone not only feels they can contribute, but is positively encouraged to do so.
A great leader will also recognise that there may well be other leaders in their team and just because they have the title of leader, does not mean that the contributions from others should be ignored. There are times when everyone needs to display leadership skills within an organisation and a ‘titled’ leader ignores this at their peril.
Most people will agree that they are most willing to change and adapt when they have been included in the decision making process. If you think of your own experiences I’m sure you will be able to recall times when you have been reluctant to follow a leader because you felt that you had no say in the process. By being inclusive and valuing the opinion of our team, we develop a strong sense of belonging and create an attitude that the team can overcome any challenge. The importance of this to the success of a department and ultimately the organisation is huge.
This is a short excerpt from the training materials, 'Great Leadership', which you can purchase at the Trainer Bubble website.
Showing posts with label leading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leading. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Great Leadership Skills - Self Awareness
A great leader has a strong sense of self and will identify with both their strengths and their weaknesses. It means recognising what you are good at and acknowledging that there is still a lot for you to learn. It also means being prepared to state when you do not know the answer and addressing the mistakes you might make.
This can often go against our in-grained beliefs, often we are determined to demonstrate that we know and can do everything. However, just because we don’t recognise our weaknesses, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If you try and hide things, it will mean that others might question your abilities, which in turn will undermine your efforts as a great leader.
When you develop a strong sense of self you will model behaviour that demonstrates that it’s alright to admit to not knowing all the answers, to make mistakes and to ask for help. All characteristics that, when adopted by the staff, will help an organisation to develop and grow.
On an individual level, by having self-awareness, you will be able to identify where the support of your team is required and utilise their expertise to ensure effectiveness.
There are many ways that you can develop your self-awareness. A few things you can start to focus on are...
- Be true to your strengths
- Solicit feedback
- Ask good questions and listen to the response
- Commit to lifelong learning
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
The Manager as Coach
In my role as consultant, I am often asked whether all good managers are effective coaches and if so, does this lead to the opposite being true.
To answer these questions with any great authority, it is important to define what is required of a manager when performing the role of coach. In order to do this, it is best to examine all management activity of which there are three key areas: Managing, Leading and Coaching.
These three activities are complimentary and are required to help a good manager achieve their business objectives, by enabling a team to perform at their best. You could refer to these skills as the legs of a stool on which a good manager sits.
When leading; the manager creates and shares a vision of the future with their team and ensures that their activities are consistent with bringing about that change.
When managing; they deliver results to the organisation by controlling the work of the team and agreeing and monitoring such things as budgets, timescales and quality levels.
When coaching; they support team members in their learning, to enable them to develop the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to successfully deliver their job responsibilities and goals.
It is important to note that these three elements overlap because some of the processes and skills that are used in one area are also used in another. There may be times when the manager needs to use coaching skills to help their team understand and take ownership of quality levels or times when management of budgets requires strong leadership and vision.
Problems arise when the manager is not clear about which approach is appropriate in a particular situation. For example, if a coaching approach is used when deadlines are tight or a crisis has arisen, precious time may be lost. If a management approach is used when a team member has made a mistake, the learning opportunity will be missed and the mistake may be repeated.
All this boils down to the simple fact that coaching is incredibly important to a manager’s role and to be truly effective, they should acquire this valuable skill. However, if they neglect the requirements of management and leadership, they will ultimately fail.
So, to answer the original questions; Are all good managers effective coaches? I suspect so. Does that make all effective coaches good managers? Not unless you can sit on a one legged stool!
To answer these questions with any great authority, it is important to define what is required of a manager when performing the role of coach. In order to do this, it is best to examine all management activity of which there are three key areas: Managing, Leading and Coaching.
These three activities are complimentary and are required to help a good manager achieve their business objectives, by enabling a team to perform at their best. You could refer to these skills as the legs of a stool on which a good manager sits.
When leading; the manager creates and shares a vision of the future with their team and ensures that their activities are consistent with bringing about that change.
When managing; they deliver results to the organisation by controlling the work of the team and agreeing and monitoring such things as budgets, timescales and quality levels.
When coaching; they support team members in their learning, to enable them to develop the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to successfully deliver their job responsibilities and goals.
It is important to note that these three elements overlap because some of the processes and skills that are used in one area are also used in another. There may be times when the manager needs to use coaching skills to help their team understand and take ownership of quality levels or times when management of budgets requires strong leadership and vision.
Problems arise when the manager is not clear about which approach is appropriate in a particular situation. For example, if a coaching approach is used when deadlines are tight or a crisis has arisen, precious time may be lost. If a management approach is used when a team member has made a mistake, the learning opportunity will be missed and the mistake may be repeated.
All this boils down to the simple fact that coaching is incredibly important to a manager’s role and to be truly effective, they should acquire this valuable skill. However, if they neglect the requirements of management and leadership, they will ultimately fail.
So, to answer the original questions; Are all good managers effective coaches? I suspect so. Does that make all effective coaches good managers? Not unless you can sit on a one legged stool!
This Article is adapted from our training course 'Coaching at Work', which is available from our website at Trainer Bubble.
We also provide business consultancy in areas such as leadership, coaching and effective business development. You can discover more about the wealth of services offered by Trainer Bubble at our website Trainer Bubble ServicesThursday, 10 January 2008
Is Learning and Development Finally Coming Home?
Recent developments in America suggest that learning and development could be resurrected from the dark, dusty recesses of human resources into a bright new future.
Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.
I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad, but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing, although hardly isolated.
Most HR Directors will argue that they’ve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce, but with all due respect to diversity laws, this is a two-eyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue, learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.
Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and, perhaps more importantly, the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a no-brainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR, which serve to ensure the business is ‘ticking over’ and doesn’t get embroiled in any legal issues.
Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employee’s point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised, the first concern of the individual is, ‘What development can I expect?’ and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development, there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.
The employee – understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.
The employer – understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.
So, businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.
This isn’t a knew theory, but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.
The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer (CLO), whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR, which reports to, you guessed it, the CLO.
The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development, with a key focus on; coaching, training, motivation and project management, which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.
Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLO’s (currently five in the FTSE 100), there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all, it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!
Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.
Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.
I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad, but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing, although hardly isolated.
Most HR Directors will argue that they’ve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce, but with all due respect to diversity laws, this is a two-eyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue, learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.
Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and, perhaps more importantly, the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a no-brainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR, which serve to ensure the business is ‘ticking over’ and doesn’t get embroiled in any legal issues.
Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employee’s point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised, the first concern of the individual is, ‘What development can I expect?’ and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development, there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.
The employee – understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.
The employer – understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.
So, businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.
This isn’t a knew theory, but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.
The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer (CLO), whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR, which reports to, you guessed it, the CLO.
The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development, with a key focus on; coaching, training, motivation and project management, which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.
Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLO’s (currently five in the FTSE 100), there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all, it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!
Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.
Friday, 30 March 2007
Leadership and Football - a worrying survey
A recent Franklin Covey Harris Poll surveyed 23,000 people in key industries and the results were staggering.
If the results from the poll were for a football team, you would end up with the following scenario:
If the results from the poll were for a football team, you would end up with the following scenario:
- Only 4 in 11 players know what the objective of the game is
- 7 in 11 players don't know which goal is theirs
- 9 in 11 players don't care
- 9 in 11 don't know what position they play in the team
- Only 1 player feels that the players would be held accountable for the team's performance
- 1 in 11 are actively trying to score goals for the other team
These are truly sobering facts. The resulting organisational cost doesn't even bear thinking about.
If you want to ensure you are providing your leaders with effective training, take a look at our course 'Leading Effective Teams'. It's only £53, even Leeds United can afford that!
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