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141: What makes me tick?

November 18, 2013 by Brenda Leave a Comment

What makes me tick?  One of the highlights of my week is participating in an informal leadership forum held at 6:30am every Friday morning.  In the small diverse group are the headmaster of a private junior school, the principal trauma surgeon of a 900-bed hospital, an industrialist, a graphic designer, COO of an environmental organisation, the director of the ‘mental health society’, a coach (that’s me!), the manager of a coffee bar, two pensioners, a chartered accountant etc.  So what does this ‘unlikely combination’ of individuals (from different fields) have in common?  We all have a passion for leadership excellence and value each other’s willingness to share our experiences and expertise.

blog141

This morning I shared ideas on capturing the hearts and minds of our team-members.  Twelve participants added valuable input.  So here is an outline of what we covered: 

Leading and managing may go ‘hand in hand’.  Although different business schools and authors use a range of definitions, there is usually a strong overlap.  We manage the present and we lead to the future.  If we don’t get the job done, we won’t ever reach our future state.  Yet, having a vision with no means of sustaining the present will also create a vacuum preventing us from working towards the future. 

So, how can strong leaders or managers go about creating high performing teams where the needs of the task, team and individual are all met?  I believe that just getting the job done is no longer enough.  We have to bring out the best in individuals.  And in order to do that, we need to connect at both head and heart levels.  

Let me put ‘what makes me tick?’ in context.  I was privileged to attend an address by Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi, branding experts.  His clients include Brand China and Brand United Nations.  But there is a catch here.  He is no longer talking about ‘branding’.  He believes so strongly that we have to capture the hearts and the minds of our target customers that he now refers to ‘love marks’. 

He provided background and elaborated on the role of business and showed us how we now go ‘beyond’ what was previously stated as the purpose of business.  He outlined various approached to the role of business.  For example, Jack Welch believes that the role is to create shareholder value.   Peter Drucker refers to ‘creating a customer’.  However, Kevin Roberts sees the role of business as making the world a better place for everyone.  For some this is a huge revelation as this approach enhances the importance of social responsibility.  This again connects ‘head and heart’ and informs our actions. 

So, now that we have some of the concepts in context, let’s look at how we can tap into the hearts of the members of teams that we lead.  We need to engage them as we want more than just their ‘hands’.  We want them to connect and be committed to achieving quality results. 

With technology meeting more and more of our needs, often there is less connection between humans.  And a challenge facing current leaders and managers is ‘how do we get people to interact and build positive relationships’?  For our own management team, I developed a simple exercise which we practised on a regular basis and I have adapted it to suit the needs of various organisations, businesses and professional teams. 

Here are the steps in developing and using a ‘What makes me tick’? questionnaire:

  1. Develop a list of relevant questions for your leadership or management team.  An example follows.  Once trust has been built with these team-members, the concept could be extended to other teams in the organisation.
  2. All the members of the team fill in their answers.
  3. The completed sheets may be shared in a number of ways.  In some cases a copy is given only to the leader.  In other cases each member of the team is provided with a copy.
  4. At each weekly meeting, a different team member’s answers may be shared and discussed.  In other cases the leader may keep them all ‘on the back burner’ and only when the need arises refer to one of the points on the questionaire:  For example:  ‘Matthew, I noticed that you preferred working in a quiet environment.   How are others helping to avoid unnecessary noise?’

In that way you will help to bring out the best in the members of your team through giving them an opportunity to share information which in the course of ‘getting the job done’ may never surface.  In addition, the interaction when using the information (management meetings, one-on-one etc.) leads to positive growth. 

In summary, this method helps to treat individuals as special and unique.  We can use this questionnaire to find out what their ‘hot buttons’ are.  And then we focus on the things that motivate them.  Thus team performance can be enhanced through helping others to achieve their potential.  Press their ‘hot buttons’! 

What makes me tick? – Questionnaire - example 

Please provide only that information which you are happy to share with this team.   

  1. Full name: 
  2. Name or nickname by which you like to be addressed by team-members:  
  3. Pronunciation:  
  4. Who am I? 
  5. Some of my greatest achievements are…. 
  6. Who are the ‘significant others’ in my private life? 
  7. Some personal issues facing me right now: 
  8. Please avoid contacting me during the following ‘after hours’ times:
  9. Cell number:                                                       E-mail address:
  10. Birthday (day and month):
  11. Favourite foods:                                                 Foods I do not eat: 
  12. Favourite type of music: 
  13. I work better/worse when music is playing:
  14. The type of books/articles I enjoy reading:   
  15. Interests and hobbies:
  16. Sport – involvement:
  17. Other organisations to which I belong:
  18. You will help me to perform better at work if you encourage me by ….
  19. Please try to avoid the following behaviour/expectations when dealing with me…
  20. Things that irritate me/pet hates and aversions (not necessarily in the workplace): 
  21. I feel respected when:
  22. I show sincere appreciation by:
  23. Some reasons I really enjoy working for this hospital, school, organisation, company or firm:
  24. Some reasons I’m excited about the changes in the organisation:
  25. Some strengths which I bring to this team:
  26. What potential do I have that has not yet been tapped (at work)?
  27. Areas of my work performance I am trying to improve:                 
    • You could help me in the following way: 
  28. Working as a member of this team, you’ll bring out the best in me  if you could
    • do the following:
    • avoid the following: 
  29. Parts of my work I love:
  30. Parts of my work I don’t enjoy:
  31. Further  information which will help you to get to know me better:

For more information on the facilitation of Leadership Development, please contact Brenda on brenda@146.66.90.172 or +27 82 4993311.

121: Leadership Tips

June 14, 2013 by Brenda Leave a Comment

At one of our recent ‘Enhance Your Executive Skills’ sessions, the topic was leadership.  Each participant was asked, if they were to provide one (and only one!) tip on leadership, what would it be?

The answers were as follows:

Mohammed

Lead by example.

Melissa

Remember your role is one of influence.  So be wary of the manner in which you conduct yourself, because the people you lead look to you for direction.

Ronel

Believe in yourself.

Brad

Seek a good example and seek advice and mentorship.  Imitate.

Hush

Build a personal brand.

Nqobile

As a leader it is important to feel that your mind and soul are nourished.  Otherwise you can’t share when you don’t ‘feel’ what you are sharing.

Jacqui

Encourage your team to discover their strengths and work within their strengths.

Thoko

Take care of your team’s needs. 

Ronel Stevens and Nqobile Majozi – participants in the ‘EYES’ course.

Ronel Stevens and Nqobile Majozi – participants in the ‘EYES’ course.

If you could give one, and only one tip to leaders, what would it be? 

For more information on our ‘Enhance Your Executive Skills’ courses, leadership development or executive coaching, please contact Brenda Eckstein on +27 82 4993311 or brenda@146.66.90.172

106: Leadership evaluation checklist

February 17, 2013 by Brenda Leave a Comment

Many of our clients appreciate a simple ‘leadership evaluation checklist’.  The useful tool below was adapted from the work of John Adair and his ‘Three-circles model’.  

Leadership Evaluation Checklist 

TASK NEEDS:  Did the Leader… 

  1. …establish a common purpose, i.e. were the task objectives explained and accepted by the group? 
  2. …spend time planning with the group at the outset on how they would tackle the task? 
  3. …organise by allocating jobs to members of the group? 
  4. …co-ordinate the efforts of his team? 
  5. …control the progress of members of the group in achieving their tasks? 
  6. …expect quality results? 

GROUP NEEDS:  Did the Leader… 

  1. …work towards getting commitment from the team to the task objective? 
  2. …consciously develop the loyalty of the team? 
  3. …consciously foster the pride of belonging to the group?  Did he say “we” and “us”, etc? 
  4. …ensure that team morale was high? 
  5. …maintain the unity of the team, ensuring co-operation and that conflict was minimised? 
  6. …give credit to the group if the task was successfully done, and not take it for himself? 
  7. …receive acceptance by the group as their leader? 

INDIVIDUAL NEEDS:  Did the Leader… 

  1. …ensure that each team member knew what was expected of him and what his responsibilities were? 
  2. …give each individual the opportunity to develop a sense of achievement? 
  3. …provide all team members with an opportunity to contribute, take part and to show their potential? 
  4. …make individuals feel that they were needed in the team? 
  5. …give recognition to members who did good work? 
  6. …counsel or advise individuals when they needed it? 
  7. …ensure that each member felt that he had grown/improved through the experience? 

For further information on leadership development programmes and ‘executive coaching’ please contact Brenda on +27 82 4993311 or +27 33 3425432 – email brenda@146.66.90.172 or www.strategy-leadership.com

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