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positive reinforcement

Take Me to Your Leader

by Jen Kuhn on May 11, 2010

Leadership is (fill in the blank).  You can’t.  Neither can I. 

Despite articles, books, blogs and opinions written about leadership, what is often left unsaid is that leadership is over-defined.  Yes, there are characteristics that one might apply to a strong (or weak) leader.  There are behaviors one can observe, mentors one can model, quotes one can use and examples one can site.  I tend to agree with most of what I read about quality leadership and what that embodies.

Therefore, I would like to add a perspective on leadership by simplifying the definition to four dominant traits/characteristics/behaviors (fill in the blank!).  Consider a compass.  There are four primary directions: North, South, East and West.  And just like leadership, even something as precise as a compass has varying ways of defining and discovering North: there is True North, magnetic North and grid North.  No wonder I need GPS AND Mapquest to get me where I’m going!

So imagine that there are four primary elements of leadership, with varying degrees of direction.  Just like I might be traveling North-East to get to my destination, one can also move their leadership needle along the compass.

The Leadership Compass:

Moral Direction

In order to be an effective leader, one must have a moral compass.  Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.  Ah, the challenge.  Sometimes the right thing to do may have a negative impact on the bottom line.  The right thing may involve confronting an employee who is not meeting the standards and expectations of your organization.  The right thing may be to change a policy so it benefits both the consumer and the company.  The right thing may be the difficult thing to do.  Varying degrees of this compass point include: honesty, integrity, ethics, conscientiousness, virtuous, honorable, humane, compassionate and noble, to name a few.  How does your moral compass impact your leadership decisions?

Inspirational Direction

Another trait I would place on my leadership compass is the ability to inspire others.  Quality leaders, no matter their position within an organization typically make others want to do and be more.  They serve as an example of possibilities and dreams and courage.  Inspiring others at this level is a gift and a challenge.  Varying degrees of this compass point include: leading by example, encouraging, intriguing, motivating, refreshing, dynamic, persuasive and uplifting, to name a few.  What leader has made an inspirational impression on you?

Emotional Intelligence Direction

In Daniel Goleman’s article he discusses emotional intelligence as a quality of an effective leader.  This is often ignored when it comes to the promotional processes of many organizations.  Typically, one gets promoted into a leadership position because they are either highly effective at their current position, or they’ve been with the company for 78 years.  Neither of these reasons have to do with leadership; rather, they apply to job knowledge and longevity.  As Mr. Goleman points out, some varying degrees of emotional intelligence include: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.  What are your guiding principles when choosing a leader within your organization?

Effective Communication Direction

There are multiple ideas, visions and expectations that a leader must communicate within their organization.  The ability to do so effectively can mean the difference between: success or failure, motivation or discouragement, buy-in or complaints, collaboration or sabotage, understanding or confusion. In order to effectively communicate, a leader must have a handle on all other elements of their leadership compass.  Some additional degrees one would find: open body language, approachability, willingness to accept and receive feedback, ability to see and verbalize the “big picture”, positive recognition, holding people accountable, recognizing effort, keeping people in the loop, authenticity and many more.  What opportunities do you have to communicate more effectively?

So there you have it…my leadership compass.  Each direction allows for further definition and corresponding behaviors.  What would you add to this compass?  What direction are you taking your organization????


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Take the Bite out of New Hire Remorse

by Jen Kuhn on March 10, 2010

“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” ~Stephen Wright

Almost every person in a leadership capacity that I’ve had the honor to work with has, at one time, hired or inherited a new employee. At first there is usually a honeymoon phase.  You’re excited to have an energetic new player on your team; the employee is constantly smiling because they are trying to make a great impression and demonstrate their eagerness.  Yet after a few weeks, you may start to have some questions.  The questions may sound something like this:

  • Did I make the correct hiring decision
  • Is this really the type of employee I want on my team
  • How can I coach this employee so they reach their potential
  • Why can’t this employee be more like the one I had before
  • When will they “get it”
  • They whine so much…what’s wrong with them
  • Didn’t I already tell them how to do this
  • Why do they keep saying, “Well, at my last job, we did it this way….”
  • Why do they require my constant attention
  • Did they hit their 90-days yet

These are just the tip of the iceberg.  Positions of leadership are challenging.  When leaders do not take the time to coach, they turn into strong managers but weak coaches.  They are able to get many tasks done, but lack the substance and confidence to help develop their employees.  They have to micro-manage. They also may get frustrated with newer employees which can lead to misunderstandings and under-performance. This leads to employees who are uncertain of their value, and may become disengaged or difficult to manage later in their employment.

I am a new puppy owner.  Look at all those questions above and you get a clear picture of my life today.  I haven’t had a puppy in 12 years!  Last night I took the leap and became the owner of Bella…aka The Spawn of Satan.  Bella is a Newfoundland puppy.  I’ve never owned a Newfoundland puppy.  I’m sure Bella is like every other puppy in the world…but I forgot about what puppies are really like once you get past their cuteness. Say it with me…”High Maintenance”.

So far…all of the above questions have applied to my decision to get this puppy.  And since the Newfoundland breed is a “working breed”, that’s almost a literal statement!  I’ve had Bella in my possession fewer than 24 hours.  I’m already looking at the “return policy”…and then she does something cute.

Having a new employee is similar to having a puppy.  But at least your employees can locate the appropriate restroom on their own.  I’m questioning every brain cell that went into the idea that this puppy was the right one for me.  Once you make the decision to hire an employee, they deserve and require all of your leadership skills in order to reach their highest potential.  Challenging?  YES.  Aggravating?  YES.  Time consuming?  YES.  Worth the effort?  YES! (if they’re potty trained).

Coaching your new employee will reap rewards, but not necessarily right away.  They will have their moments of brilliance; yet ultimately will need your guidance and attention to develop to their fullest potential.

Some quick tips on adapting to, and coaching a new employee:

1. Praise, praise and more praise: Recognize their efforts and don’t hold out for perfection before letting them hear a good word from you.  The first time they take initiative, even if it doesn’t quite work out, praise what they did well and coach them towards improvement.  This may sound like:

YOU: “Sally, I’m impressed that you took the initiative to help that customer.”

SALLY: “But I felt really nervous and wasn’t sure I fully answered their questions.”

YOU: “My expectation right now is that you find opportunities to learn.  You just demonstrated that you can easily build rapport with customers. Very impressive. What questions did they ask that you thought were challenging?”

2. Pay attention and be patient: What are they doing well?  Where do they need support?  What will you do to provide them with the support they need? Have patience with mistakes made early in their tenure. Focus on the positive and redirect the negative. If you expect mistakes, you won’t be shocked when they make one. How you respond to their mistake will determine whether or not they learn from it.

3. Provide tools for success: My new motto: you can never have enough chew toys.  People have different learning styles. The primary three learning styles are: visual, auditory and kinesthetic (“hands on”).  Make sure to incorporate all styles into your coaching approach.  For example: show them how it’s done (visual); tell them how it’s done (auditory); allow them time to practice/demonstrate their understanding of how it’s done (kinesthetic).  Lather, rinse and repeat steps 1 and 2.

4. Be consistent: They are in a brand new environment.  The more consistent you are with the expectations, the easier it will be for them to adapt and grow.  You must be consistent with them if you expect them to perform consistently well.  Don’t expect more from them than you do of yourself.

5. Find their value: If you constantly compare them to other employees, it will be difficult to discover the unique value they bring to your team.  Once you discover and acknowledge their value, you will probably stop second guessing your decision to hire them in the first place.

Once you incorporate these 5 behaviors, things will start to fall into place.  There will be set-backs (like the one I cleaned up on my kitchen floor) and rewards (the sleeping puppy at my feet).  New employees want to be successful.  As a leader you have the opportunity to guide them toward success.  Before you know it, both you and the employee will become comfortable with each other and work more effectively together.  Enjoy the opportunity to coach your new employee.  Ultimately, how well they perform in the future is a reflection of the time you spent guiding them when they were a puppy…I mean, new employee.

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Effective Coaching Starts with YOU

by Jen Kuhn on February 22, 2010

Coaching to Create a Culture

Recently I was asked by a supervisor why coaching plays such a crucial role in the development of their service culture.  The supervisor wanted to understand what particular coaching behaviors are the most effective in enhancing this culture.  Although there are many coaching behaviors that will influence your cultural development, I am going to address two of them in this blog: upholding standards and positive reinforcement.

Several years ago I was facilitating a motivational and teambuilding seminar for employees of a juvenile court detention center.  This particular team had a great deal of internal conflict and resistance.  The primary reason for the seminar was to get them motivated and working together in a more productive manner.

During one of the activities, I asked the participants why they chose to work at the detention center.  (I was hoping that we would find some common ground as a foundation for building a more cohesive team).  One participant responded by saying, “If I can make a difference in just one child’s life, I will have done my job.  I work at the detention center in the hopes of helping one child.”  I asked if they all felt the same way since they were all nodding their heads.  Everyone vigorously nodded in agreement.  My response was from the heart: “You see hundreds of kids a year, and you’ve done your job if you’ve helped just one?”  Their new common ground: hating me.  Hey, we had to start somewhere.

If people are paid and trained and coached to do a job, we should expect that they will do it well.  I highly doubt that the supervisors at the detention center were hiring people and saying to them, “During your tenure here, it is our hope that you can help one child.  Welcome to the team.”  That sounds ridiculous, right?  But isn’t that what we sometimes communicate to employees?  We set our standards low and become accustomed to underperformance in certain areas.  What coach hasn’t had the thought, “Well, as long as they’re not making any big mistakes, or causing too much conflict, I’ll be happy with my team”?  (But remember, what you are willing to accept becomes your standard).  Or, the ever popular, “I really don’t have time to meet with my employees or catch them doing something right…I’m just relieved they showed up for work today”.  These thoughts lead to coaching behaviors that serve to de-motivate employees and ensure underperformance!  They are destructive to the development of your culture.  Negative and neutral reinforcement guarantee underperformance, as does setting the standard, then not holding employees accountable if they are unwilling to meet that standard.  When we finally confront underperformance, it’s met with shock, defensiveness and resistance.   The employee learns to respond by saying things like, “At least I’m not as bad as her”, or “Remember, back in 1989 when I helped that one guy?  I can’t believe you think I don’t help enough people”!

As coaches, we need to have high standards and expectations.  The person we should expect the most from is ourselves.  If you are given the honor and task of supervising employees, have standards and expectations of yourself.  Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you do not have time to coach employees.  We are all given 24 hours in a day.  No matter how many employees you supervise, projects you are working on, emails you have to answer, you get 24 hours.  What you do with those hours makes all the difference.  “Time management” is just a phrase.  In the book, 100 Ways to Motivate Others,(100 Ways to Motivate Others: H…) the authors state that “…you can’t really manage time.  You can’t add any more time to your day.  But you can manage the priorities and the things you choose to do.”  Wow.  How about that for a reality check?

You may wonder where to start coaching your employees, and how to fit that into your day.  (And remember, you can’t manage people, but you can coach them)!  You must start with something simple.  Make it a priority to catch your employees doing something right everyday.  Give them immediate, positive feedback.  Be specific about what they did well.  Pay more attention to the behaviors that you want to see and you will see more of those behaviors.  Have you ever noticed that when you buy a new car, you start seeing “your car” all over the place?  Funny, suddenly everyone has a car like yours.  Do you really believe that the car you bought gained in popularity overnight?  Or is it more realistic that you started noticing the car once it became important to you?  Once you decide that it is important to catch your employees doing “it” right, you will see them doing things right with more frequency.  Remember, coaching is a way of thinking and behaving, not an event.

Giving consistent positive reinforcement to your employees will help lay the foundation for all other coaching thoughts and behaviors.  Additionally, holding employees accountable for meeting standards is an effective coaching practice that treats people as capable adults.  I’ll say it again: what you are willing to accept becomes your standard!

Coaching plays a vital role in developing and enhancing your company culture. You have been given an opportunity as a coach to influence and ensure this development at your company, school, hospital, court system, restaurant, not for profit, government agency or where ever you work.  You can do it!  Changing your coaching style may be difficult at first, but eventually effective coaching will simply become what you do.  Now go out there and catch the next employee you see doing something right!  Seriously, get out of your chair, walk away from your computer…Are you still there?  It’s over, move along, there’s nothing to see here…

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