Additional Factors of Leadership
Leadership is ever-evolving. In today’s climate, we should be taking a look at the qualities that leaders possess and what they look like. If you haven’t had a chance to review part one of this leadership series, click here. As I have mentioned before, no two leaders are alike. Many leaders, however, follow a special set of rules if they are worth their weight and time in investing in. If you want to ensure that you have a good leader in place to represent your company, your courses, and anything in between, here are some basic ideologies that they should possess:
- Intuition
- Experience & Ability
- Past Success
Intuition
Like any skill, intuition can be taught. However, it’s the special leaders that already possess and cultivate their intuition on a regular basis. They lean into what makes them thrive as a leader knowing how and what makes people and opportunities tick. Intuition can be a variety of skills within itself like maintaining energy, boosting the morale of the team, knowing when it’s the right time to initiate a plan or project and also feeding into the momentum of a project with care and consideration.
This leader is great at knowing what the current needs are and being able to see what future needs may occur. Ever have that leader order lunch during a long meeting? That person knows that it’s not just about the work, it’s also about keeping your people fueled and energized to accomplish the goal. This person allows feelings to be a factor in how people perceive the tasks or the project itself. They also are aware of what motivates their team as well as possible future leaders within that team.
Experience & Ability
Sometimes leaders are created while others are born. Anyone can be a leader if they use their past experience as a teachable moment to others. Leaders who find value in the challenges that they’ve had in the past are bound to have successful teams and businesses. With experience, strong leaders will be able to seek out a simple solution first. Complexity will often breed in action and a leader who has practiced this will know that this factor can make or break a team.
It is helpful to know what your leader is capable of. If they’ve had past experience and success, then there should be a trail or testament to their past works. What distinguishes us from one another in leadership is how well we have developed our goals and our actions toward making them a reality. You’ll be able to find a leader that is capable if they have taken plenty of experiences or challenges and turn them into productive stories.
Past Success
In speaking in terms of experience, past success is equally as important. Is there a track record for this potential leader? Have they extended themselves or taken a risk to succeed? What does their story look like? When new leaders are cultivating their experience, they are effectively gaining opportunities to have success stories. No story is too small. Success happens on every level of a journey. Even at the beginning, a leader should think big! Big thoughts are the predecessor of delivering big results.
John Maxwell says that the only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have been and what we have become. He says in other words, success comes as a result of growing to our potential. Finding a person who has been a constant in growth, planting seeds, and acknowledging said growth will ultimately showcase a leader who will have many past success stories.
If you are having trouble cultivating the skills as a leader, feel free to reach out to me by emailing missy@missyday.com or if you find that your company is looking to create more leaders from within, send an email to the address above, visit my website missyday.com/connect or simply call my office at 702-493-2611.
As always, remember you are in control of your success, even when you need a little coaching in your corner!
Make it a great day!
Missy Day
Factors of Leadership
Leadership comes in many forms. A lot of times, leadership can be interpreted differently depending on the circumstance. For many, it is simply someone who takes the rule of leader or director on a project, a task, or for an organization. You may even see someone taking this role for a company, a course, a coach, or a seminar. Many people will speak on the subject offering their insight into the role or what they’ve experienced having had someone else in the role. Either way, no two leaders are alike, but many of them follow a special set of rules if they are worth their weight and time in investing in. If you want to ensure that you have a good leader in place to represent your company, your courses, and anything in between, here are some basic ideologies that they should possess:
- Strong Character
- Sound Relationships
- Knowledgeable
Let’s start breaking these down.
Strong Character
A strong character could be defined as a person that can sense the truth and integrity of a situation. This person is honest and forthright in the success of their team as well as themselves. There is a certain level of sincerity and integrity that will elevate this person’s value and enable them to provide the highest levels of service. A big factor in this is taking responsibility. Leaders take responsibility for where they are and then get out in front of the issues by thinking a few moves ahead. Responsible leaders know that they cannot ignore issues but rather they control the priority of the issues and address them accordingly.
Sound Relationships
Like any business or teacher, there is a reputation that a leader will have. What does this reputation look like? Is it a good one or a bad one? You’ll know you have a good leader on your hands if the person in question has sound relationships. For the most part, when you see this person or you meet this person in networking groups, they are always surrounded by the right people. They work well with others but also lift those around them.
This person will also have many testimonials, recommendations, and word-of-mouth praise.
Leaders with sound relationships can leave a company or project and the will of the team or product will stand strong. Not only are all these factors relevant, but a person with sound relationships will have a continued client base and loyalty factor. If you find people are constantly returning to this person for advice and help, then you know they have stood the test of time and people see value in them.
Knowledgeable
In this day and age, anyone can be an expert. You can make your own certificates or you could take an online course that lets you print one. The only difference between finding a leader that is tried and true to finding one that looks good on paper is to look for the people that have legitimate training. not many people can go through a course, say like John Maxwell training, and be allowed to continue if they don’t demonstrate their knowledge practically.
You know you have a good leader on your hands when they bring the factual product to your door. If they’ve studied and learned the facts, they know where to replicate them and get them to you. Not only would this person have multiple trainings under their belt, but they would also be able to teach others. How has this person developed their goals and actions toward making them a reality? If they have a proven track record, then you know they’re made of leadership material.
If you are having trouble cultivating the skills as a leader, feel free to reach out to me by emailing missy@missyday.com or if you find that your company is looking to create more leaders from within, send an email to the address above or visit my website missyday.com/connect.
As always, remember you are in control of your success, even when you need a little coaching in your corner!
Make it a great day!
Missy Day
Employee Retention Success
Let’s talk about employee retention success.
We’ve all been there, where we train people only to watch them leave. As a corporate impact expert, let me share with you how you can keep your employees.
We rolled out a program called Fun Friday, which meant every Friday we stop production for 15 minutes – unheard of. In fact, they thought I had lost my mind. My director said, “you are asking to shut down production for 15 minutes on a Friday?” “Just give me a chance, let’s see what happens,” I replied.
We did it. Not everybody was onboard. Especially one person named Sylvia. Sylvia made it clear that she wasn’t interested in Fun Friday, and did not participate. Even though her cubicle was positioned right next to the place where we had fun every single Friday. I thought she had checked out, wasn’t listening. And she wasn’t taking part in the activities with the group.
One day Sylvia came into my office and shared a story that touched my heart. She shared a process improvement that frankly left me floored. Little did I know that she had taken it all in. She was listening to the Fun Friday activities next to her cubicle. Sylvia was living it somewhere outside of her cubicle. When we engage our employees, they turn into committed team members. And they take an interest.
And when we open the lines of communication, your organization can turn around on a dime:
- improving processes
- wanting to get to know their teammates
- build relationships with one another
We experienced it. I’ve seen it happen in other corporations. And you know what, you can too. If you’d like to receive 10 tips on how you can have fun in the workplace, please visit www.MissyDay.com/fun.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGOT8rfCH6w
High Employee Turnover Solution
Have you ever experienced high employee turnover in your company?
Well, the quickest and effective way and the best investment that I ever had was turning 15 minutes of fun every Friday in our workplace. And we saw a significant change in as little as three to six months.
As a Corporate Impact expert, the only way that we get these results, are by starting at the top, with the leadership team. If you think in terms of the team as a direct reflection of their leader, you have a different outlook on the outcome.
The leadership team is the first place I start when I train for fun in the workplace. My philosophy is, why would you ask your team to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself? And how hard is it to have a good time for 15 minutes every week? Because the leaders are the ones that have to set the example for the team, and model collaborative behavior.
Only then can we begin to improve the areas of:
- productivity
- customer satisfaction scores
- employees/team members commitment
When I work with an organization, I go in and I start at the top, with the executives, the management team. Then we work our way down because once the employees see that their leadership team involvement and they’ve bought in to the program, it goes much easier. And once it goes in motion, it’s a hard train to stop. It’s a win-win for the employees, the leaders and the customers.
If you’d like more information on how you can have FUN in your workplace, please see www.MissyDay.com/fun.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtLiVns-_HQ
Low Productivity At Work
Low Productivity At Work
Have you ever experienced low productivity at work?
Our Fun Friday moved a team from 80% to 95% productivity in only six months. That’s crazy, right? Not only did we have low productivity, but we had low morale too. This department had five managers in two years. In fact, they placed bets on how long I would last.
As a Corporate Impact expert, I knew how we could change this. And we did. We went viral – in a good way. Other groups wanted to watch us in action on FUN Friday. Our leadership team wanted the other sites to model us, so they could achieve the same achievements we did.
Our Fun Friday approach to increase engagement and productivity with this team also worked in these areas:
- Communication – which is not only talking but listening as well
- Collaboration – work with other organizations to unite our team further
- Results – the leadership team noticed
- Cost Savings – This team saved $250,000 and two FTE in just one year
- Expansion within the company – our success has opened doors for other departments.
All this from implementing FUN.
And it’s so simple, people can hardly believe it sometimes.
If you would like more information on how you can experience FUN in your workplace, please visit www.MissyDay.com/fun.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcn2rnRVzzI