Coaching Aussie Leaders

Accountability and Coaching

2008-10-22T02:56:00.000-07:00

When your team have clear goals and each member shows commitment, you're ready for the final two steps.
Step #3 is to make sure you set up accountability. As the team moves forward they need to know that their actions will be monitored, and if they turn off course they must be aware of the consequences. On the other hand, if they maintain a straight course and complete the assigned tasks, they should be rewarded. Most people require nothing more than a pat on the back and words of recognition to perform at their best. If you have the budget, you could reward your staff with meals or other bonuses. Staff are your most valuable asset, so why would you hold back any form of investment into their lives.

Step #4 Once your team are pursuing the goals, don't just leave them. There are two extremes. On one hand, you have managers that leave staff to fend for themselves. On the other hand, you have managers that peer over the shoulders of their staff all day long. An alternative approach is coaching. Coaching asks people the right questions at the right time so that the task is performed successfully.

Set clear expectations, gain commitment, set up accountability, and coach your team to success.
I have been travelling the country to introduce people to the wonderful skills of coaching. Please contact me to attend a seminar in your area.

Gaining Full commitment from Your Team

2008-08-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Coaching Aussie Leaders Blog

Communicating expectations throughout the organisation is an important function for any team leader. In my last article I talked about the importance of communicating WHY a task is so important. This article we will discuss the topic of commitment among the team. Although we all recognize the importance of having each team member committed to team goals, many leaders struggle with gaining the full commitment of their team. In fact research has shown that on average, only 40% of people’s full potential is displayed in the workplace. I think most leaders would be honest enough to admit there is a huge performance gap within their own teams. What would you say about your own organisation?

To gain the commitment of your team, each person must feel a sense of ownership toward the goals. Ownership comes from involvement. Involvement comes when leaders are willing to take a step back and ask, “How can WE do it?” Communication is a two way process. Here are a few tips for gaining greater team involvement.

Invite suggestions from everyone even if they aren’t directly involved.
Acknowledge everyone’s ideas.
Don’t be critical or dismiss any ideas until you have gathered thoughts from everyone. Many leaders dismiss ideas as soon as they are suggested. This causes people to think, “Why bother, my ideas won’t be accepted”
Invite everyone to scrutinize the suggested list of ideas. The leader should only make suggestions in regard to blindspots that others don’t already see.
Consider any offers of help from people who work in other departments. Sometimes people are employed in a role they dislike, and secretly desire involvement in other projects. Keep your eye open for hidden talent within your organisation. How many CEO’s started out as cleaners? Too many to ignore.

When people understand the reason a task is important, when people have an opportunity to be involved in the process, when people feel ownership; there is a greater willingness for them to commit fully by using all their abilities to complete the task. When people are fully committed to a task there is always a higher release of potential.

Have fun exploring the potential of your team. They want to commit themselves to worthwhile tasks that challenge them to perform at their best.

Until my next contact,
CREATE UNFORGETABLE MEMORIES

Communicating Expectations

2008-07-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Coaching Aussie Leaders Blog

Clearly defining your expectations and communicating them to others, is one of the most CRUCIAL components to success in any team. Over the next few weeks I want to explore ways that we can successfully communicate expectations to others. …and why it is so important.

Before you talk to others, ask yourself “WHY is this important?
Knowing the importance of a task is critical because people will sometimes blindly follow the instructions that leaders give them. Many years ago I worked with a man who hated to think for himself. He had a little ryme that went, “Ours is not to reason why, ours is just to do or die”. He was basically saying that he didn’t care whether he understood why the boss wanted a task done, he was ‘just’ an employee who did what he was told and collected a paycheck at the end of the week. Is this attitude common among employees? Many would say “yes”, but maybe the reason they think that way is because they are NEVER told WHY the task is so important.

Have a think about this point and send me your comments. Next week I will continue this discussion further.

Until then,
LIVE BIG – DREAM BIG

Evaluate and Change

2008-06-26T22:56:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the Coaching Aussie Leaders blog.

Are you experiencing changes?
Maybe you are experiencing intense pressure, or facing a huge learning curve. Today’s message is all about transitions, change and the need to evaluate everything we are doing.

I started this blog six months ago during a time of transition. I won’t bore you with all the details, but two of the most dramatic transitions have been moving house and re-branding my business. Both of these transitions have given me the opportunity to evaluate everything in my life. Transitions are necessary times in life when we evaluate all of what we have been doing. We analyze whether what we have been doing has really been worthwhile.
Lesson #1: Transitions are opportunities to evaluate everything we do.

My father owns one of the most successful Avocado farms here in Queensland, Australia. On the farm each block of trees are evaluated for their fruit yield… for their productivity. In business today we need to continually evaluate what we are doing and evaluate whether each activity is producing the fruit that we expected. List the 5 activities that you are investing most of your energy. Now give them a performance score of 1-10. Researchers have found that a self evaluative score is usually just as accurate as a 20 page analytical report costing thousands of dollars.
Lesson #2: Pay attention to your instincts.

Any activity with a score of less than 7 should be a point of coaching. Start the self-coaching process by asking the question, “What can I immediately do to make this activity more productive and worthwhile?” If you struggle finding an answer maybe you need to decide whether to axe the activity or delegate it to someone who may be able to a better job than you. Instinctively we know the activities that are not producing what we expected, but instead of acknowledging failures we often throw more energy into them in an attempt to turn the situation around. I have seen organisations invest thousands of dollars into people who were not producing results. Their motives were based on the hope that the person would change. People CAN change…. if THEY want to, not if the boss wants them to.
Lesson #3: Cut dead wood, delegate, and innovate

Summary
Successful managers continually evaluate activities, cut dead wood, delegate to others, and use creative thinking to change what isn’t working. In transition times successful leaders embrace failures and mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.

Think Big – Change what isn’t working – Move Forward – Live Big

Involve Your Whole Team When Setting Goals for 2008

2007-11-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

The first step in leading any group of people is to have a clear sense of where you are, a clear sense of where you want to go, and what you want to achieve along the journey.

Most traditional leadership models suggest that it is the leader’s job to outline the vision and mobilize the team to follow their plan. Other leadership models suggest that the leader should be more of a facilitator and capitalize on the wisdom within their team.

I must admit that I favor the second leadership style because it has a much higher potential for personal growth within the team.

Here are a few benefits of including your team in goal setting and other decision making processes.

Each person is committed to the outcome because they were actively involved in making each decision.
Each person has the opportunity to contribute which makes them feel worthwhile and respected.
Facilitated team decisions help to strengthen relationships and encourage the team to work together in other areas.
The team don’t need to run to their leader during every perceived crisis, because they feel empowered to think for themselves and make the necessary decisions.
The team don’t need motivating because there is a higher sense of responsibility to perform at their best.

Taking these benefits into consideration, you can see there are many advantages to involving all members of your team when you make important decisions or set goals. As 2008 approaches let’s remember this lesson and include people in setting goals for the coming year.

Until our next contact,
CREATE UNFORGETABLE MEMORIES

The $400 Million Success Story

2007-10-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

This past week I finished reading an amazing book called, "The Seven-Day Weekend". I thought it might be a great follow-up to another amazing book I recently read called, "The Four Hour Work-week". ......and before you think it..... no I'm not scared of doing a hard days work...... but I am a firm believer of doing whatever you enjoy

In a nutshell, the Seven Day Week-end offers the reader an insight into a company that has no mission statement, no set hours of work, and no set job discriptions. A really great read for those employers who understand and support a coaching mindset.

Women in Leadership

2007-10-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Coaching Aussie Leaders Blog.

In this blog I hope to share my thoughts and insights on having a greater effectiveness as a leader, while maintaining work/life balance.

My perspective comes from personally observing leadership models around the world and having been a leader myself in many different situations.......including business (personally coaching 100's of individuals, and providing training to organisations around Australia and overseas), community (organising citywide music festivals and programs for people in need), travel (taking groups of teenagers to India, and bringing them all back alive!!!!), and fatherhood (being the father of 7 children..... and yes, their still alive too!!)

My insight today focuses on women in the role of leadership. Today workplaces are full of ladies in positions of leadership. I believe this is a fantastic thing because ladies promote a more relational side to business which I find most refreshing.

One of the most important issues for women in leadership is work/life balance.

Ladies have a unique awareness of work/life balance because they often wrestle with feelings of "not being the perfect mother", "not having the perfect body image" and "not utilizing their talents to their fullest potential". Wrestling with these issues, and trying to achieve some measure of balance between them, can be stressful. ......however my observation is that women in leadership often have a greater capacity to handle these kind of stressors than men.
.........the reason for this is...........relationships!

Spend 3 minutes in a lift with a lady and you may very well know the name of her husband, children, and pet dog, by the time you exit. This ability to open up and share their lives.....even with total strangers, is the very thing I believe that keeps women powering on. Ladies thrive on relational interactions, and this helps them manage the stressful job of balancing the demands of life and work.

So.... in this very first blog, let me salute all women in leadership positions.......whether you are an Aussie or not. I admire you all. Lead with pride.
.........and join me on my elevator BLOG ride where I will share about myself, my beautiful family, my successes, heart felt failures, and inspiration for Aussie Leaders.....leading in our world!

Until my next post......
Enjoy Life - IT MATTERS!

Peter Sewell
The Aussie Leader Coach