Archives for October 2013

Julia Winston | October 31, 2013 | 10 Comments

6 Communication Skills You Need To Get Promoted

Frank was a hard worker at this company. A new position opened up and Frank thought he would be perfect for the job. He had been with the company for 15 years. He constantly met and exceeding his job expectations. He’d won numerous performance awards. He was assertive and efficient. He thought he had a good shot at getting promoted.

He applied. He waited. Finally the announcement for the new manager was made and Frank’s name was not called.

Frank was furious. He was certain his record was better than all the candidates. After work, with his supervisor who was also his friend, Frank decided to be bold and ask why didn’t he get the job. His friend slumped his shoulders and said, “Honestly, Frank you do a great job, but your people skills could definitely be better. It wouldn’t be a good fit for you to be a leader. You serve us best doing exactly what you are doing.”

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”raised” width=”500px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]You can be really good at doing your job, but that does not mean you will be promoted. When companies are looking for leaders they need people who can rally their people, lead people, and solve problems caused by people.[/dropshadowbox]

6 Communication Skills You Need To Get Promoted

1. Speak up

Be strategic about making your voice known. Don’t talk just to say you are present. Contribute and add value. If you have a good idea, offer it. Consistently doing so gives you presence. Speak clearly and sound educated. Clear, strategic, value adding speakers get promoted.

2. Shut up

You can’t learn if you are always talking. Knowing when to shut up shows you are mature enough to control your impulses. Zeal wants us to talk. Wisdom tells us when to be quiet.

Winston Churchill said

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” TWEET It

Demonstrating restraint gets you promoted.

3. Praise and compliment

Get in the habit of giving away compliments . Regularly praise people you work with for their skills, good attitudes, hard work, etc. This creates an exciting and enthusiastic workplace. Being secure enough to praise others gets you promoted.

4. Confront

Confrontation is critical in building a trusting and productive environment. Confrontation doesn’t have to be scary. It is simply pointing out a discrepancy. Confront out of intrigue not out of accusation. Well executed confrontation skills gets you promoted.

5. Ask for Feedback

Actively pursue feedback. By asking for feedback, you are establishing open communication. You also measure which skills are and are not working. You don’t know what you need to work on if you don’t ask. Seeking feedback gets you promoted.

6. Compassion

Remember at the end of the day, you work with people. You rely on people. You need people. Develop a sense of compassion. Be able to see people for they are, not just who they are to you. Being compassionate gets you promoted.

Consistently implement these skills so you aren’t passed over for a promotion due to poor communication skills.

What other skills gets one promoted?

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos via photopin cc

Leo J. Lampinen | October 30, 2013 | 5 Comments

10 Motivation Factors You Should Consider About Your Team

Your team’s engagement can begin to falter quickly if you are not paying attention. They can become demotivated if what at first may have seemed like a sprint turns out to be a journey. Each repetitive task required to reach the end goal can become a bit mundane and sooner or later all focus is lost. Your role as a leader is to keep them on track, guide them, be there to support them, give your ideas, foster participation and remind them of the outcome.

4 Reasons a Team May Become Demotivated

They see the team leader as demotivated
They don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel
They don’t feel appreciated
They haven’t been given any guidance/direction

When a team sees the leader as demotivated, they too will begin to follow his/her path. As a leader, it is certainly possible that you too will begin to lose focus and become demotivated. This can easily happen when it feels like the workload has been taken away from you with a team that has been tasked with doing most of it. To recover, you have to get back in the game. Check in with the team often and make sure priorities are being addressed. Even though it may seem like it at times, you will never be too busy to take part. Your team still needs guidance and direction going forward.

There is a term that is often referenced in leadership circles “Delegate, but don’t abdicate”. Basically, this means to give power away, but do not let go of everything.

3 Warning Signs That Your Team is Losing Focus

Work progress has slowed and deadlines are missed
You are receiving more complaints about the project
You are not seeing the usual amount of commitment

You should be paying attention to these three things that throw a red flag up about team members losing interest in participating. If you are not seeing the work being completed or if deadlines are missed, that is a good indicator that they are not interested in moving forward any longer.

When a team member comes to you with a complaint about the project, it could mean that they are looking for a way out. Do not immediately brush it off and tell them to get back at it. Your job is to hear them out and help to remind them that what “we” are doing is important and will benefit them in the long run.

You know how hard your team works because you have likely been through a lot with them. You should know their personality styles and what each member’s level of commitment usually is. When you see the usual amount of commitment slow, then it is time to step in and find out the root reason.

3 Ways to Keep Your Team Motivated

Be there for them along the way
Create an incentive for each member to strive for
Appreciation!

As the leader you have got to keep your head in the game as well. If you lose focus yourself and drift off into abandonment, your team will surely lose motivation. Even if it seems like they have a good grip on the project, it is imperative that you check in often to verify the progress. This also shows them that you still care about the vision as much as you have preached it.

The members of a team are usually naturally competitive. In the beginning it is a good idea to give them an incentive, aside from the main goal, to shoot for. This gives them something to reach for along the way. Avoiding this step is kind of like giving them a ladder with a few missing rungs. Once they start climbing and see that they can’t make the jump, they won’t. Don’t give them a ladder with missing rungs.

I can not stress appreciation and recognition enough. This should be done publicly, in front of everyone and often. A good way to show that you appreciate the work being done is to encourage feedback on the progress and the way forward.

Don’t wait for the “just the right time” to show appreciation, because the right time is now.

And it doesn’t always have to be extravagant, but it does have to be sincere. A simple public announcement of achievement or even the occassional hand-written thank you note is all that may be needed to keep those gears moving.

What are some other reasons you have noticed that your team has lost motivation? What have you done to keep them in focus?

Photo Credit: P!XELTREE via Compfight cc

Adam Smith | October 29, 2013 | 6 Comments

Four Critical Success Points of Contagious Ideas That Sell

We all want our ideas to catch on as soon as we try something new. For this to happen, I believe it is important that we look at past successes with implementing big ideas. Remember, the past is there to learn from, not to overlook. There have been so many contagious ideas over the years that we could pinpoint, but I will just select one and dissect it for us to examine.

For this article, I will choose the idea of the Apple iPhone so most people will be able to relate and follow along with the momentum behind this idea and product. No, this is not one of the most important ideas to form over the history of mankind, but it has definitely made an impact on this decade. The ideas created behind this piece of technology formed a new way that we think about how products need to function and the benefits that they bring.

Here are the four stages that every contagious idea has to go through to be a success:

1. A Focused Conception Is Where It Starts

Steve Jobs knew what he wanted, as he did with every one of his later products. This is because he knew exactly what people wanted and needed to get more done and have fun while doing it accompanied with a beautiful experience. That really is what Apple has done. They have made their idea irresistible to most through a focused conception. The idea behind Apple’s success is ease of use, market need, beautiful presentation and the “it” factor that comes along with each of their products.

Quality brings mass following more than any other factor.

What do you want to accomplish with your idea? Is your idea powerful enough to stand the test of time? Yes, putting the full work behind the push of ideas is sometimes daunting, but when there is a contagious idea at stake, it is well worth it.

2. Your Vision Is Bigger Than You

Steve’s ideas were bigger than just himself. It actually was so large that he needed a team to pull it off. Great ideas require enough creativity to think bigger than anyone else before you has thought of. When you have done all you can to take your idea as far as you possibly can and it can still be expounded upon by others, you know that you have an idea worth sharing.

3. The Necessity of It Matters

Does your idea burn inside you to tell others about it? That is a good sign that you obtain a contagious idea. When your idea makes people wonder how they ever lived without it, you again know that you have a contagious idea. Benefits play a huge role into the necessity of your ideas.

People didn’t realize that they “needed” their iPhones until they had one. Now, if you were to take smartphones away from their owners, they would be lost without them. Even if people don’t seem to need your contagious idea yet, they might once they have it in their hands.

Ask yourself these four questions:

WHO is this for?

WHAT am I really making and impact on with this idea?

WHY is this necessary?

Is this idea WORTH sharing with others?

Start with the 4 “W’s” to know if you have a contagious idea.

4. Adoption From Your Audience

It needs to be an idea so big that it makes people stop to think about what is in your idea for them. What does your idea have to offer your audience? When people are able to rally behind a concept/idea and see the benefits of it, the “sell” becomes a lot easier. In a lot of instances the beauty of your idea or the fun and interest that it brings is enough by themselves to find an interest group.

As far as the iPhone goes, adoption was easy because it offered customers a way to make their lives easier by providing a more streamlined option of doing things and a way to have everything in one place. When you offer people an easier way of doing life through your “necessary” product, it is almost a guaranteed sale, no matter what the cost is.

So, wherever you are in the idea process, check your ideas against these four critical idea success points. These points could save you a lot of time when pursuing your dreams and let you know if you have a contagious idea within your reach. Have you had an idea that can survive all four of these points?

If so, you have a contagious idea and it is time to put the work in.