Welcoming new employees into your workplace is crucial to their onboarding experience. On an employee’s first day, they are already considering if this is the type of organization they will want to continue working at on day one. 

Thankfully, as an employer, you do many things that will make a significant difference in an employee’s onboarding experience. Here are some easy tips that will go a long way in helping new employees feel welcomed and included in their new work environment. 

Get to Know Them Before Their First Day: While it is important to get to know employees’ work styles and past work experiences, employees want to feel like their employer cares about them as a person on top of that. As a leader, you must get to know your new team member. Ask them about their background, goals, and what they hope to accomplish in this new position. This will allow you to easily engage in conversations that make them feel more connected to you and the organization. 

Inform Your Team: One of the last things a new employee wants when starting their first day is a bunch of employees who didn’t know they were hired, who they are, or what their job functions will be. You should inform current employees of the new hire coming into the office so if they see a new face, they can greet them and welcome them. Also, your team can plan something special for the team member’s first day. A welcome card, a team Zoom introduction, or a welcome basket with some small snacks, office supplies and a packet of frequently asked questions for new employees can go a long way in making them feel welcome.

Give Them a Thorough Tour: While it may seem silly, an employee needs to know where common things are in the office, like the break room, the bathroom, and the copy/supply room. Giving employees a tour of the office will create a sense of comfort so they can walk the halls more confidently. Employees don’t want to feel like they need to take their lunch break in their car or desk, so make sure they know where things are. This is a great example of how small things can make a big difference.

Assign a Buddy: Entering a new office or work environment can be overwhelming. New employees might feel like they are a burden if they need to bother you for small questions so, instead, pair them up with a current employee who knows the ins and outs of the office. This employee can be there as a support system if the new employee has any questions they may not feel comfortable going to their boss with. Additionally, this person can help them build stronger connections with others in the office. 

Orientation Packet: The packet can act as a guide to the whole organization by including policies, vision, values, benefits, and basic knowledge the employee should know about the organization and team. New employees will need all the help they can get in navigating their new environment so a small orientation package will be valued. 

On-The-Job Training: This may be one of the most crucial tips to help employees feel comfortable in their new role. Although you may be hiring employees who have been in this field for years, each company has unique ways of completing tasks or may even have different software they utilize. Providing instructional videos or having the employee shadow someone else in their position will help them raise their confidence that they will be successful in their new job.

Introductions: Help new employees to even better understand the “what” and “why” behind their position by introducing them to key stakeholders or internal customers. This can be part of their tour as well. These introductions will help the new employee know their key stakeholders and internal customers as well as understand everyone’s goals and how the areas connect or overlap. Another benefit to these introductions is that more people are motivated to help the new team member succeed.

Bring in Lunch for the Office: One of the best ways an employee can feel comfortable is by interacting with coworkers without work being at the forefront. This may be tough on their first day so a good gesture from you would be to bring in lunch for everyone to foster that environment. Other employees will be able to get a free lunch and there is less pressure for the new employee to make the sole effort to introduce themselves to their coworkers. As well, it will help generate some connections and help the new employee put a face with a name.  

Provide a Job Description: A list of job duties and tasks will help keep the employee organized. You can also create a list of tasks for the first couple weeks. This will allow them to ease into their work more fluidly and ensure success. Although these tasks may not make up the full extent of their role, giving them compliments on a successful first week will increase their confidence later on.  

Check in Often:

1. Ensure the employee knows you care about them by checking in on them during their first few days.
2. Ask how you can help or what support they need.
3. Ask what their normal working style is and how the office can play a role in a smooth transition.

These small gestures will show employees that they made the right decision working for your company. 

Write a Grateful Note: At the end of the first week or first month, write a note to your new employee telling them how grateful you are that they decided to join your team. Compliment some of their competencies or behaviors that have helped strengthen the team. Thanking an employee and letting them know they are valued will have a big impact on connecting the employee to both you and the team.

Connect with a Senior Leader: When your boss or bosses’ boss makes the effort to stop by on the first few days and introduce themselves to the new employee and lets the employee know how glad they are that the employee has joined the organization, it tells the employee they are special, cared about and valued.

There are so many small things that employers and their employees can do to make new staff members feel comfortable and welcomed to the organization and team. If employees feel appreciated and accepted, they will gain a sense of commitment towards the organization and will have the confidence to meet their full potential. So, take advantage of these suggestions to create an environment where this new employee will say, “I love my job and I love working for this organization.” 

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Communicate a Positive Vision

Leaders who lack confidence tend to have a status quo or pessimistic vision of their team’s and organization’s future. Although these leaders may not communicate their negative thoughts, we know that confident leaders tend to communicate a positive vision and focus on the improved outcome. Confident leaders believe they have the skills needed to figure it out, find the resources, build a team, and consistently deliver the needed results. Their positive vision allows them to lead positive conversations.

Over Communicate

Leaders who don’t have faith in themselves tend to be poor communicators. They are so hyper-focused on not slipping up that they will hesitate to make decisions, respond to emails or communicate their vision. When leaders shy away from communicating, making decisions, or withholding information, they hold-up other team members’ work. This leaves employees feeling more confused and less confident in their leader’s abilities. Confident leaders focus on never holding up another team member’s work. They also practice good communication by actively listening, asking good questions, and being decisive.

Take Risks

Leaders who lack confidence are afraid of failing, so they avoid being innovative and taking risks. They think that playing it “by the book” will keep their team or organization consistent and safe so that they won’t be accountable for any mishaps. This sparks issues because while leaders may not make any mistakes, they aren’t leading change and improving the organization. Confident leaders take calculated risks. They confidently forge into the unknown and learn from their mistakes. This goes along with the classic Mark Twain saying, “You’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you did do.” If leaders begin to take risks rather than play it safe, the possibilities are endless. Confident leaders believe they can accomplish their goals.

Give Credit where it is Due

Leaders who lack confidence are not comfortable giving credit or expressing gratitude to members of their team. These leaders tend to take credit for the wins and are quick to point out the mistakes of others. To keep the team’s trust and commitment, confident leaders know they must show appreciation for their team’s hard work and contribution to the organization’s success by properly recognizing their achievements. Confident leaders trust their teams and allow them to flourish and grow. Giving credit also means accepting compliments and not discounting them. Instead of discounting the compliment, learn to say, “Thank you for that feedback.”

Be Resilient

Every great leader, at one point or another, has made a bad decision or has tried something that did not work. The difference, however, between a confident leader and a skeptical leader is that the confident leader will turn a negative outcome into a positive outlook for the future. A confident leader will take every loss, mistake or obstacle and look at it as a learning experience that they can improve upon in the future. Confident leaders will not let failure get in their way and stop them because they know that failure is the path to learning and growing and will bring them one step closer to achieving their goals.

Call upon a Mentor or Executive Coach

Leaders who lack confidence believe that since they were hired for the job, they should already have all the skills they need to do the job. They don’t want to admit that they do not know what to do or have all the answers. Confident leaders are comfortable asking for help and advice of people who have gone before them. When meeting with a coach or mentor, confident leaders love to use the line, “I need to run something by you.” Asking for help is a sign of strength, and confident leaders use mentors, coaches, or advisors to help them become even stronger leaders.

Defeat Imposter Syndrome

Every leader, even CEO’s of great organizations, has questioned themselves if they are really the right/best person for their job. These bad thoughts almost always lead to comparing their leadership to someone else… whether it is one of their direct reports or the CEO of a competitor. In challenging moments or situations, leaders who lack confidence believe that there is someone better than them who could do their job. These thoughts erode confidence and lead to negative thoughts and visions. To become an even more confident leader and overcome the Imposter Syndrome, we recommend leaders build a list of ten to fifteen reasons (skills, traits, and competencies) why they were selected for this leadership role.

Your job as a leader is to constantly improve the condition of your team and organization to succeed. Remember, you were put in your position of power and influence for a reason. They hired you for the job; now make them look good and take advantage of the opportunity you were given.

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For the leaders we are coaching and in our survey results, we are hearing and seeing the same thing; everyone is tapped out to a level that we haven’t seen before. The interesting part is that most companies are expecting their employee engagement and check-in surveys results to be declining in this environment. But we are not seeing this trend. We think it has a lot to do with the results to one question. When we ask employees if they have confidence in their organization to handle the challenges of the pandemic, responses are averaging at 92%. Employees have faith in their organization to see this through successfully. As leaders, we now need to fulfill this vision they have for the organization. So, how do we keep going under these circumstances?

The following tips will help you keep morale high and loyalty strong, and you can fulfil the faith that employees have placed in us as leaders during the pandemic.

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
   Establish a clear, positive vision, along with roles and goals for every employee. Even when the news isn’t good, or you don’t have the answer, honestly communicate with your employees on an on-going basis. In this COVID environment, we are hearing that communication within their team is high, it is more cross-departmental communication that is a struggle right now. Make it a point to reach across department lines and maintain those relationships. It will help you as a leader, as well as your employees and organization. 
2. Ask Questions & Listen
   Make sure that communication is not only top-down, but from the bottom-up. Conduct a Pulse or Check-in Survey. Right now, at a minimum, you want to be asking questions around health and safety, well-being, communication, engagement and if they have what they need to do their job in their current work situation – whatever that may look like. Ask employees what they think, listen to their responses, and then take action. Let them know how you used their input. 
3. Provide Autonomy
   In theory, if you’ve hired good talent, they should be able to do their jobs without a lot of hands-on support from you. Give people enough distance to do their jobs in the way they think will best accomplish their goals. 
4. Recognize Team Members
   Whole books have been written on the importance of recognition as a morale booster. Customized, individual recognition given by a leader to an employee(s) for specific accomplishments is a much more effective morale booster than organized, institutionalized recognition programs. With so much stress in the work environment right now, recognition is of the upmost importance. Employees need to feel that their leader and organization cares and acknowledges the efforts they are putting into their job at this time. In times of change, you can’t over communicate, and you can’t over recognize.
5. Be Flexible
   To the extent you can, be flexible about working hours. Giving people comp time off for a job well done, or letting someone come in early and leave early says that you recognize that your team members have a life outside of work. In difficult times, people struggle with trying to achieve a work-life balance. Give them some flexibility. 
6. Hold All Team Members Accountable
   There is nothing that will drive morale down faster than to have some members of your team not doing their job correctly, not fully contributing to the success of the team, or perpetually spreading ill-will and discontent. To keep your top performers engaged and loyal, deal directly with slackers.

Focusing on keeping morale levels high isn’t just a feel-good proposition; it is directly related to the bottom-line. Follow the tips above to help keep your employee’s spirits high during difficult times, and in good times.

The post Morale and Loyalty – Maintain Them During COVID appeared first on Peter Barron Stark Companies.

Although leading remote teams is new for some of our clients, for several of our clients, they have been leading a remote workforce for many years. Different studies estimate that somewhere between 40 and 70 percent of the global workforce spend at least some time each week working remotely.

There are many benefits to allowing team members to work remotely. It offers flexibility which is one of the most important values of today’s workforce. Increased flexibility has the potential to create a more engaged, motivated and happier workforce. Working remotely also has the potential to save both employers and employees money. The employer may need less office space and the employees save time and money each day they do not need to buy gas and sit in traffic driving to work. Last, employees say that by working from home, they experience greater focus and productivity with less stress. What we can predict with a high level of confidence is that after the Coronavirus subsides, more employees than ever will be working remotely.

So, if more employees are going to work remotely, it makes sense that leaders need to up their game with a new set of skills to successfully lead a virtual workforce. The following 7 skills will help you build the most productive, effective and high performing team.

1. Set clear goals and expectations. Team members need to be crystal clear about your expectations for the new working relationship. What are the specific results you need each team member to accomplish and within what timeframe? Does the employee still need to attend remotely the same meetings they attended when they were onsite? Does the employee need to let team members know when they are online working remotely? If the employee is going to take time off during the day, do they need to let you know. Last, what daily or weekly communication is scheduled with you so you can keep up-to-date on the employee’s workload.
2. Consistently communicate. If your reputation as a leader who is a great communicator is not good with a workforce that is located all in one space, when the workforce goes virtual, you will be especially challenged. It is easy for remote employees to feel disconnected from the team. It is easy to tell leaders that the most successful leaders of remote workforces use multiple channels to communicate. Great leaders communicate with their remote team by text, email, Slack, video conference and even IM. What is not talked about a lot is the secret sauce of great leaders who lead remote team members. The secret sauce is consistency. Great leaders have regular times set up to communicate. Whether it is a weekly one-on-one meeting via Zoom on Monday mornings or a Microsoft Team Meeting every Wednesday, meetings should have consistent times when important communication can be relayed and feedback can be shared.
3. Connect personally and professionally. If you saw a team member in the office on Monday morning, you would probably ask them, “How was your weekend?” The same principle needs to be applied by leaders who lead virtual team members. The first few minutes of a phone or video call need to spent checking in on team members personally. Whether in the office or leading team members remotely, they need to know that you care about them both personally and professionally. The more team members know that you genuinely care about them, the more motivated they are to support you and move in the direction you are heading.
4. Focus on results. One of the most difficult tasks in leading a remote workforce is holding everyone accountable. Do not focus on what people are doing or how they spend their time, since it is almost impossible to do when you are not there with them watching their behaviors. If team members have clear goals, expectations and timeframes for accomplishment, it will be easy to maintain accountability by focusing on results.
5. Trust your team. To be a successful leader of a remote workforce, you need to turn up the volume on your willingness to trust people. Team members need to know they are empowered to make decisions to complete their work. Encourage team members to over-communicate with you so there are no negative surprises. Focus on being both patient and flexible because this is a new working relationship and it will take time to have a fluid and comfortable relationship.
6. Be inclusive. Working remotely can be lonely. Go out of your way to check in with remote team members to see how they are doing and if they need any support from you. Also, ensure they are included in important information and decisions, just like you would do if they were sitting next to you in the office.
7. Recognize success. When someone sits next to you and shares great work, it is easy and natural to tell them they did a great job. When a remote team member emails you their project after work hours, it is easy to review and since they are on track, you feel no response is needed. Let every team member know you appreciate their hard work and are grateful for the contributions they make to the team. 

The more leaders put these 7 skills to use in leading a virtual team, the more effective they will be in maximizing the value and benefits they bring to their team and organization.  Like any new skill, it takes practice and a willingness to be patient and flexible as new virtual teams and relationships are built.

The post New Skills to Successfully Lead a Remote Workforce in Coronavirus Times appeared first on Peter Barron Stark Companies.

Decisions, which can lead to acts of genius, but also some pretty impressive mistakes, are judgments formed in our brain. Decisions are the product of choices, and choices decide what kind of leader you are. Every leader makes mistakes, but how you handle the aftermath of a mistake is critical. Great leaders ensure that poor choices don’t compound their mistakes, but are tools used to learn from their mistakes, used to develop actions to handle poor situations differently in the future. 

So, here’s the million-dollar question – Why do some leaders make more mistakes and implement more bad decisions than others? 

Make the easy decision

When coaching a difficult team member, sitting down and advising a difficult report would be the harder decision. We all know difficult people tend to be difficult to give feedback to. Holding team members accountable takes more of the leader’s time and can stir up conflict that the leader may or may not be willing to deal with. Therefore, not making any of these difficult decisions and promoting or moving a team member is a lot easier than holding them accountable.

Ego or Self-interest

Far too many amateur leaders make decisions that cater to their self-interest;  when the leader decides to change an organizational structure based on whom he likes or doesn’t like, rather than what structure will be in the best interest of the organization or department, then they’ve made a bad decision based purely on their personal agenda. Ego and self-interest are often the reason leaders are unwilling to admit that they made a poor decision or a mistake.  Sometimes, managers even know that they’re making a bad decision, but their ego will not let them admit their mistake, spiraling into an unhealthy work environment for everyone. 

Arrogance

Some leaders are convinced they are always right, even smack in the face of conflicting information.  When leaders fully believe they are correct in their decisions, they’re less willing to listen to and incorporate other people’s expertise.

In 2013, Lululemon’s founder, Chip Wilson,  stepped down as chairman after deciding to defend his company’s see-through yoga pants by stating that the pants were not the problem, but “Quite frankly, some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it.” 

Blind loyalty

When leaders allow blind loyalty to affect their decision-making process, bad decisions are often the result. For instance, managers guided by blind loyalty may choose to ignore the deficiencies or inadequacies of one of their team members.  Even when other team members point out the individual’s lack of accountability, the leader fails to take action and correct the team member’s performance problems, compounding problems and destroying transparency within the team. 

Power

Researchers have concluded that people who accumulate power can develop unwarranted confidence in their own abilities.  This is especially true when managers surround themselves with “yes” people; those who have built a reputation for agreeing with any decision the leader recommends. 

Past experience

One of the greatest attributes a leader can bring to a team or organization is their experience – experiences that have yielded both positive and negative results are tremendously valuable in recreating paths to success.  If the environment, situation or information changes, however, then past experience can hinder the decision-making process. 

J. Paul Getty said it best, “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.”

While leaders are people, and people aren’t perfect, if you’ve made mistakes like any of the ones above before, it’s not the end – you can learn to change your behavior and become a better version of a leader. Listen to your instincts – if your gut instinct is reacting to a situation, listen to it. Use the examples listed above to help you build greater awareness of your decision-making style. With greater awareness, you can approach difficulties with confidence and poise – things every great leader should possess. 

The post When You Know You Are Making a Bad Decision appeared first on Peter Barron Stark Companies.

When you look up introvert at Wisegeek.org, you find out that an introvert is a person who is reserved, quiet and solitary. In a recent poll of executives who are our clients, approximately 35 percent described themselves as introverts. Are you an introvert? If you can answer “yes” to the majority of the statements listed below, there is a good chance you are an introvert:

• You believe that if everyone just did their job, there would be less of a need to communicate and there would be no need to go to a team building session.
• You would prefer to communicate by email rather than by phone or in person.
• You work hard to minimize the amount of time you have to spend at social events.
• You are more comfortable being with people you know well, rather than in situations where you have to hold a conversation with people you do not know.
• You actually re-charge your batteries by spending time by yourself.
• You believe that since you do not need a lot of praise and recognition, others should be content and not look for acknowledgement for just doing their jobs.
• You do not like to speak your mind until you have listened to all of the options, both pro and con, and then have the opportunity to prepare a well-thought-out response.
• You prefer to dig deep into an issue rather than focus on someone else’s vision. To you, depth is more important than breadth.
• You prefer to work with people in situations where people are calm, objective and there is an absence of emotion.
• You really enjoy calmly analyzing challenges and solving problems that are troubling to others.

If you are a leader who is an introvert, you are in good company. Great leaders who have classified themselves as introverts include: Bill Gates; Warren Buffet; Douglas Conant, the former CEO of Campbell Soup; Mahatma Gandhi; and Abraham Lincoln.

For many people, the stereotype that you need to be an extrovert to be a great leader still exists. In a study published by USA Today, 65 percent of executives stated that they perceive introversion as a barrier to leadership, and only 6 percent said they believe introverts make better leaders. The University of Notre Dame, in an analysis of approximately 70 leadership studies, found that extroversion was a major predictor of a person’s leadership potential. Most likely, these findings are because extroverts, through their comfort of networking and their ability to build relationships, are more likely to be noticed and considered for promotions.

The reality is that there are about an equal number of introverts and extroverts at the executive level of the organization who are great leaders. Why both extroverts and introverts make great leaders is that they have the ability to adapt their style, an ambivert, or a combination of both introvert and extrovert—even when it is uncomfortable for them to do so—when that is what is needed for their people or for the situation within which they are leading.

Although remaining introverts to the core, successful introverts learn to adapt when certain behaviors are necessary for influential leadership. If you are an introvert, the following six tips will help you in becoming an even more successful leader:

1. Get out of your comfort zone. If you are most comfortable being in your office responding to email, then set a goal that three times a day you are going to make the rounds. Ask each person you talk to the following questions: “How are you doing?” “What are you working on?” and “What support do you need from me?” The best part about asking these three questions is all you need to do is listen, possibly take notes, and take action if needed.
2. Connect with others. Introverts have the habit of walking by others and just hoping that no one will try to connect with them. Stop it! Start walking by others and greeting them with, “Good morning. How is your day going?” When you ask a question, it is then important to stop and listen to the response. This reminds me of what our 91-year-old dad has preached since we were kids, “People like you so much better when they do the talking.”
3. Participate in meetings. Don’t just sit in meetings looking at others (and thinking in your own mind how stupid people can be and what a complete waste of your time this really is). Get involved. Ask questions. Acknowledge people’s contributions. Ask what you can do to help the team or to help others be even more successful.
4. Acknowledge other people’s emotions. When people communicate to you, they most likely are feeling some emotion, whether it is pride or frustration. If someone is telling you about their family or children, acknowledge the emotion by saying something like, “You have to be really proud of what John has accomplished in sports.”
5. Prepare in advance. If you are going into a public setting, have your presentation/questions prepared in advance. As an introvert, the more prepared you are, the more confident you will be.
6. Honor people’s need to be valued and appreciated. While introverts do not have a high need to be valued and recognized, most people do, whether it is at home or at work. Don’t be like the man whose wife said, “You never tell me you love me,” to which he responded, “I did on the day we were married. If anything changes, I will let you know.” Set a goal to let three to five people know each day that you appreciate their contributions, recognize their success and are grateful that they are involved in your life.

Introvert or extrovert, your preference doesn’t determine your leadership ability. What makes you a great leader is the flexibility to adapt your behavior so that you can bring out the best in others and connect with your team members in such a way that they are motivated to follow you.

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Your reputation is the perception of how people see you and talk about you when you are not in the room. What this means is you need to create a positive vision for your leadership reputation and then manage your brand. If you don’t manage your leadership brand, then others on your team and in your organization will manage your reputation for you.

Henry Ford was dead wrong when he said, “You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do.” You can actually build a very strong, although negative, reputation of what you are going to do when you do not make decisions, resolve conflict, produce results or meet your goals.

So how do you build a leadership brand and your reputation as a leader? Your reputation is built by the actions you take each day. This means that your leadership brand is not built by your values, your intentions, your education or even your brilliance. People cannot see all those qualities that make you the person you are. They can only see your actions. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best when he said, “Your actions speak so loud, I cannot hear what you are saying.”

What are the actions you need to take to build your leadership brand and reputation as a great leader? Below are eight actions that will build you a positive reputation as a leader:

1. Create a Compelling, Positive Vision for Who You Want to be as a Leader: A vision is a fancy word for a clear mental picture, described in words, of the outcome you want to create. Your vision then serves as the picture on the cover of a jigsaw puzzle box top of what actions you need to take to make the picture a reality. For example, if you want to be a leader who is vision directed, customer focused, and who serves and supports team members well in getting the job done, then you know what actions you need to take. Different actions may be needed if you want to build a reputation as an innovative, creative leader who works well as a cross-departmental team player and produces extraordinary results.
2. Lead by Example: Think before you act. Know the “why” behind what you are going to do. One guiding principle to build your reputation is by doing the right thing and operating with integrity at all times. Being a great leader because you want to be promoted is not the right reason to take action. Being a great leader because it is the right way to treat people and everyone accomplishes more and feels better is an excellent reason to build your reputation as a great leader. If you consistently do the right thing, even when it is tough to do, or it costs you to make the right decision, you never have to look over your shoulder and worry that people are going to question your positive reputation as a leader.
3. Be a Caring, Servant Leader: Great leaders know that they have one job; to continuously improve their people, their team, or the organization. To improve your people, team and the organization, you have to really care. You have to take actions each day that demonstrate you care. Check in on your team members. Ask, “How are they doing today?” or “What projects are they working on and do they need any support from you?” Recognize to be a great leader, you need to ensure team members are clear on the goals, and then serve team members to ensure they have the skills and resources to be successful in their jobs.
4. Collect and Act on Feedback: Since your reputation is all about how others think and talk about you when you are not in the room, you need to know what people are thinking and saying. Even if you don’t like, or agree with the feedback, it is important enough for you to know. And, if you hear the feedback from different people or the same person on multiple occasions, you might consider that they are right. As my dad once said, “If twenty people tell you that you have a tail, you might consider turning around and take a look.” If two people tell you that you need to talk less and listen more and your vision is to be a leader who is a great communicator who values and respects all people, this would be great feedback to act on.
5. Admit Your Mistakes and What You Do Not Know: When you find yourself in a hole, the fastest way to get out is to stop digging. Admit your mistakes and ask for help. Most team members want to go out of their way to help you when you are able to say, “I screwed up and I need your help.” On the converse, when leaders defend what they have done wrong, they place a target on their back that whole groups of people love to aim and shoot at from behind the scenes. Leaders who can admit their mistakes and admit that they do not know something, are able to build trust with others. Great leaders know that admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, from which the leader, and the team, can more quickly move forward.
6. Be a Continuous Learner: Great leaders are continuous learners who help others to develop, learn and grow. It is impossible to maintain a reputation as a great leader and stay stagnant or stationary. Great leaders do not maintain the status quo.
7. Follow Through: Leaders with great reputations do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it, long after the feeling to do so has moved on. It is easy to tell someone you are going to do something in the moment. It is a lot harder to execute when you leave the immediate moment of commitment and then all of your other priorities in life take precedent. Great leaders put systems in place so they are able to honor their commitments.
8. Be Grateful: The greatest need almost everyone has is to be valued and appreciated. For many leaders who did not grow up getting a lot of praise and recognition, they find this skill hard to practice. The easiest way for me to be genuinely grateful is to visualize your world without your family or your team members there to support you.

Warren Buffet is right. Reputations can take years to build and, in today’s world, social media can destroy reputations in a heartbeat. Put these eight actions to work. Your leadership brand is all about defining your leadership identity that describes your reputation…and how others can depend on you to behave and deliver, consistently and confidently in every situation.

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The fundamental problem with complaining or blaming is that it does absolutely nothing to improve your situation. On the contrary, it makes things worse because it makes people feel comfortable knowing that, since they are not the source or reason for their problem or complaint, it absolves them from having to take action to change their condition. Instead of focusing on what we call the “Aim Frame” by asking themselves where they want to go and how they can get there, complainers and blamers always focus on the “Blame Frame.” They ask two questions:

What is wrong… and who is to blame?

If you ask complainers and blamers what they accomplish by spending time addressing these two questions, they almost always universally answer either, “Nothing,” or “It makes me feel better.” It is important to note that the first answer they provide, “Nothing,” is not correct. By determining what is wrong with the world and who deserves the blame, the complainers and blamers are absolving themselves from having to take any action to solve the problem. They believe that until the person or thing being blamed fixes itself, there is nothing they can do. Feeling good about not taking action is a significant accomplishment in itself.

Since complaining and blaming accomplish so little, here are 5 tips to help you improve your results and achieve your goals:

1. Create and maintain a positive vision of your future. A vision is a clear mental picture, described in words, of the outcome you desire. Your vision, if it is a good one, is going to be tested. These are trying times. Life has ups and downs. Economies have cycles. Relationships change as people grow. Careers and jobs change. All of these changes are to be expected, but they still create huge tension in your vision. There are two ways to reduce the tension. First, you can lower your vision. The easiest way to lower your vision is to blame the lack of achieving your vision on someone or something else. The second way to reduce the tension created by your vision is to set goals and then take action each day that takes you closer to your vision. Many people believe the concept of a vision is overrated. Norman Vincent Peale was on target when he said, “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.” Whether you think you can turn your vision into a reality or whether you think you cannot, you are right.
2. Set goals to achieve your vision. Goals are milestones you will need to accomplish to realize your vision. Make sure your goals are specific, measurable and time bound.
3. Establish a step-by-step plan to accomplish your goals. When you buy something in a box that says, “Some assembly required,” you can be guaranteed there will be instructions in the box. It is usually then when you find out the words on the box were a lie…a lot of assembly is required. When you write out your plans to accomplish your goals, similar to the instructions inside the box, you find that it is much easier to work the plan and achieve your goals.
4. Hold yourself accountable. Accountability is all about accepting responsibility for the end result…no excuses! If one road does not lead to success, then accountable people find another road or build one. If you are a manager, then it is your job to hold your team members accountable. Let’s say that you have a team member who is spreading ill will and discontent (complaining and blaming) to other people on the team.  There are two things you need to know. One, your employee does not have enough to do. They have way too much time on their hands that allows them the freedom to complain. And two, you are not holding the team member accountable to high enough standards of productivity.
5. Celebrate life…celebrate your opportunities…celebrate success. As much as we may want to complain and blame, we are alive! Buddha said it well, “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

If you practice these five tips each day, you will be so focused on the results, you will have little time for excuses, complaining or blaming. You can choose results or you can choose excuses that are built upon the foundation of complaining or blaming…but you can only choose one. Whichever path you choose to take…you wrote your own ticket.

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The good news is 2018 was a year when most industries experienced growth. The bad news is that it is harder to attract and retain great employees. Employee turnover can impact you with costs in recruiting, pre-departure costs, selection of new team members, onboarding, training and the overall loss of productivity. Some studies estimate the cost of replacing an employee can range from thousands of dollars to 1.5 to 2.0 times the cost of higher level leaders. While even the strongest organizations seldom have 100% retention, you have something in your talent management toolbox to help significantly reduce or prevent wandering eyes: an Employee Engagement Survey.

An Employee Engagement Survey will help you determine the EKG of the overall health of your organization. When morale is low, there is something called the contagion effect. This is when the culture gets so bad and the turnover rate is so high that it is impossible to continue to ignore the problem. You concede you are losing the talent war.

After 25 years of conducting Employee Engagement and Opinion Surveys for organizations, we are more convinced than ever that these surveys are critical tools in assessing the effectiveness of your leadership team and the health of your company. Organizations that administer a customized survey anonymously and then take action based on the results, most often tend to improve the culture of their organization.

But, it is important to acknowledge the thousands of employees and managers who believe the whole survey process is a big waste of time. And, it is important to note that we are in agreement with this group of people and how they think. In many organizations the Employee Opinion or Engagement Survey is a waste of everyone’s time and the organization’s money. Here are the top 7 reasons we have uncovered why Employee Surveys fail.

Senior Management is not in full support: Every human resource professional wants to make a difference in the organization by improving the culture and make the organization a place where employees love coming to work. But, if the CEO and senior leaders are not in full support of conducting a survey, it is destined to fail.

The survey is not customized. If you are going to ask employees to take their time to take the survey, you had better ask them about topics that are relevant. It is critical that pre-survey interviews are conducted so you know what questions to ask.

Break the data out for ownership: If you want your survey to fail, then just report back the overall organization’s data. When the data is not broken down by shift, department, or leader, it is impossible for anyone to take ownership. As long as there are five or more employees, you have enough to create a meaningful breakdown.

Do not act on the results. In every survey we do, there are some managers who do not even communicate back to employees their departmental or team results. Even worse, there are some managers who provide the departmental results, but then never create a plan of what actions they will take to improve the culture in their department.

Survey is not anonymous. When the surveys are conducted in-house, there is always a belief that someone knows how everyone answered the survey. Using a third-party administrator significantly improves the employee response rate.

Leadership does not listen: I have listened to hundreds of managers who look at the survey data for their department and then tell me how they know exactly why their scores are low. Instead of listening to understand, these leaders are more comfortable making assumptions of why employees responded the way they did.

Shoot the messenger: One manager was in stunned disbelief that his employees did not trust him. To confirm that these results had to be wrong, he called his team together and asked, “Who does not trust me?” and “What have I even done that makes you not trust me?” Sure enough, everyone in the meeting said, “Hey, we trust you. We thought the question was referring to other areas of management.”

It’s not just conducting the survey that will help you maximize your talent management system: it’s the insight that it can provide you with, and the subsequent actions you can, and must, take afterwards. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to learn more about the 7 things that will make your Employee Engagement Survey a success in managing the war for top talent.

The post 7 Ways Your Employee Engagement Survey can Help You Win the War for Top Talent (or Not) appeared first on Peter Barron Stark Companies.

The single most influential difference between those people who are wandering across the median of life, and those who are the peak performers achieving great accomplishments, is that the peak performers almost always have goals and a plan of how they will turn their vision into a reality. We all have goals for our job, team and even our personal life. But how often do you put a plan in place to turn the goals into more than words on a piece of paper. When you write your new year’s resolutions this year, or set your team’s goals for the year, take the next step to make them reality. To ensure your success, here are six steps to creating great goals and building a successful path to accomplishment.

Step One: Create a powerful, positive, compelling vision of the outcome

Without a clear, compelling, positive vision of what you want to accomplish, it is very difficult to know what goals to set and actions to take. A vision is a clear mental picture of the outcome you are trying to achieve. A great analogy of a vision is the picture on the cover of a jigsaw puzzle box. You know what you are trying to build and what the puzzle is going to be before you even start working on the puzzle.

Once your vision is clear, make a list of all the actions you will need to take to turn your vision into a reality.

Step Two: List the potential problems and benefits

Most goal setters do not take time to acknowledge potential problems. It is important that you take the time to list every problem that could stop you from accomplishing your goal. It could even be as simple as one word such as time or money. If you take the time to list the problems and create a plan to overcome them, there is a good chance that the problems may not arise.

Once you list the problems, compare them to the benefits. The benefits have to outweigh the problems or the problems will stop you.

Step Three: Create a written plan with measurable actions and time frames

When writing out your plan, you need to include both milestones and deadlines for accomplishments. Without deadlines, things always take longer to accomplish. If you were leaving for vacation tomorrow at 10:00 am, between now and then, I promise you will accomplish a ton more than you ever would or could if you were not leaving for vacation.

Once your plan has been written out step by step, you have successfully worked through the plan both on paper and in your mind. At this point, you could actually lose your written plan and most likely you will still be successful in accomplishing your goal.

It is important to note that every action and goal needs to be measurable. Without goals and measurements clearly identified, you will still be rewarded, but most likely, rewarded in Heaven.

Step Four: Is the goal realistic and obtainable to YOU?

This is a step that is not discussed much in the literature. The reason I feel it is important is that there are far more people in this world who will tell you what won’t work or can’t be done than there are people who will extend their arm and lift you up with encouragement. Some of you are the type of person that truly gets pumped and motivated when someone tells you something can’t be done. If the goal is realistic to you, GO FOR IT!

Step Five: Be willing to do whatever it takes

In 1982, a little book called The Ultimate Secret, written by an author known only as J.D., shared what I feel is the most important ingredient to your success after you have crystallized your vision. J.D., in his book, says the ultimate secret is asking yourself this one question: Are you willing to do whatever it takes to successfully accomplish your goal? If you can answer yes, then nothing will stop you. If you are not willing to do whatever it takes, there is a good chance that one of the problems you listed is going to be too big of a mountain for you to climb.

Step Six: Celebrate your successes today!

Life is short. It is over in one heartbeat. If you wait to celebrate your successful goal accomplishment, you may never find the time. Celebrate what you have accomplished today and set new goals for tomorrow.

As you begin this New Year, Dream Big. Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Believe in yourself. Take Action. If you do so, you will be a person who out accomplishes the wandering generalities of life. When our time comes to leave this world, we all want the ability to say, “I made a difference and left this world even better than I found it.” I encourage you to set goals and make a positive impact in 2018.

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