Leadership is an action that empowers people – not micromanagement. Are you or your managers leading in a way that creates a culture of trust? Often some managers believe they must have a hand in everything or they will lose control. Yet it is counterproductive. This behavior breeds mistrust among their direct reports and trust is the foundation for successful relationships, employee engagement and boosting the bottom line.
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” ― Steve Jobs
As Brigette Hyacinth, author of The Future of Leadership: Rise of Automation, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, shares micromanagement results in 5 damaging effects to your team:
Decreased Productivity – When a manager is constantly looking over their employees’ shoulders, it can lead to a lot of second-guessing and paranoia, and ultimately leads to dependent employees.
Reduced Innovation – When employees feel like their ideas are invalid or live in constant fear of criticism, it’s eventually going to take a toll on creativity. In cultures where risk-taking is punished, employees will not dare to take the initiative. Why think outside the box when your manager is only going to shoot down your ideas and tell you to do it their way?
Lower Morale – Employees want the feeling of autonomy. If employees cannot make decisions at all without their manager’s input, they will feel suffocated. Employees that are constantly made to feel they can’t do anything right may try harder for a while, but will eventually stop trying at all. The effects of this will be evident in falling employee engagement levels.
High Staff Turnover – Most people don’t take well to being micromanaged. When talented employees are micromanaged, they often do one thing; quit. No one likes to come to work every day and feel they are walking into a penitentiary with their every move being monitored.
Loss of Trust – Micromanagement will eventually lead to a massive breakdown of trust. It demotivates and demoralizes employees. Your staff will no longer see you as a manager, but an oppressor whose only job is to make their working experience miserable.
Micromanagement sucks the life out of employees, fosters anxiety and creates a high-stress work environment. If you hired someone, it means you believe they are capable of doing the job, then trust them to get it done. A high level of trust between managers and employees defines the best workplaces and drives overall company performance. When you empower employees, you promote vested interest in the company.
If you want results: Select the right people, provide them with the proper training, tools and support, and then give them room to get the job done!
Interested in learning more about how to build trust? Email us at aha@ahaleadership.com
Meetings. The word can solicit strong feelings about their value and level of effectiveness. Regardless of how you feel about them, meetings are an essential part of most organizations. Many of us practice the standard guidelines for creating a good meeting: creating a clear agenda/meeting objective, keeping time, recapping action items, inviting the right people, etc.
So how can meetings be more engaging and productive? What’s missing?
Knowing your audience’s personality style is often the missing piece.
A personality assessment like EverythingDiSC® can help bridge the gap between employees and optimal workplace communication. For example:
Consider that D-styles prefer meetings with minimal small talk and an agenda that everyone sticks to.
Allow i-styles to flourish by allowing them to express personal opinions and have open discussions with others.
To ensure S-styles feel comfortable, provide them with your meeting’s outline or agenda in advance so they can prepare.
Remember that C-styles don’t do well with making big decisions when they feel rushed or pressured.
These are some of the elements of how knowing your communication style and that of your other meeting participants can make for more effective meetings.
When we think of someone with integrity, we think of someone we can count on to come through on what they promise. Unfortunately, that’s not always a safe bet today.
Over the last several years I’ve noticed a change in the way we use the word integrity. The word used to mean staying true to your word—even if it’s difficult, inconvenient, or expensive. But today I hear more and more people using the word as if it means being true to themselves—even if that means leaving someone else to clean up the mess.
This might look like a win if we’re trying to save ourselves from difficulty and discomfort, but it will come back to bite us in the end. Nothing destroys our credibility faster than bailing on a commitment.
Why is integrity so important?
Trust depends on integrity. If people can’t rely on your word, they won’t trust you. They may extend some grace, but eventually, people will doubt and disbelieve.
Influence depends on trust. People will refuse the influence of leaders they distrust. Just look at how this plays out in politics or the media. We follow people we trust.
Impact depends on influence. You can’t make the impact you want unless you can influence others and shift their behavior.
Now think of other relationships: marriage, parenting, church, whatever. The strength of our relationships is measured by how much people can count on us. If we’re not true to our words, that means our relationships will be as unreliable as we are.
“The strength of our relationships is measured by how much people can count on us.” – Michael Hyatt, Author
Great 1:1 meetings drive accountability by continuously keeping top priorities, top priorities.
If you feel that your one-on-ones aren’t especially useful, then it’s time to improve your process. I truly find that 1:1’s are the single most important meetings of my week. It helps me set expectations, communicate priorities, and listen to the struggles/challenges that each person on my team is having. When done well, 1:1’s drive engagement and accountability.
Trap: Don’t get caught by the misconception that 1:1’s are just another meeting or that the “open door” policy is better. I truly believe by focusing 30 min of time each week on each of your direct reports, you will free up hours of meetings by delegating decision making power, and eliminate last-minute fire drills by getting ahead of problems before they blow up while results by motive each person to stay focused on your team’s top priorities. When done well you will also reduce email and phone calls because both of you have a predetermined weekly time to talk through or share key information.
How to create more effective 1:1 meetings
1-Recurring, scheduled meetings: Weekly, bi-weekly depending on your role/business.
2-Brief – 30 minutes. It may look like this:
15-20 min: Progress on goals and priorities
Progress should be reviewed for each goal; share with your leader any issues or blockers they may need to help with to ensure that the target will be achieved.
5 min: Share recent accomplishments – ask for feedback
Ask for feedback from your leader. Any good work or praiseworthy behavior should be recognized and encouraged. Be open to it. It is a gift!
5-10 min: Development and open-ended Communication
Leave this open in the agenda – where does your leader need help? It may be an opportunity!!
What are you working to further your career development? Discuss ideas.
3-Location: Consider having your one on one meeting outside or out of the office – the change of venue can contribute to a more relaxed session.
4-Timing: Consider the timing for the recurring meeting. 4pm on Friday is not ideal for a focused conversation about your career development.
5-Commit to your 1 to 1 meeting – make it a priority: The first thing you need to do is make your one on one meeting a priority. It’s easy to skip meetings, so schedule a recurring calendar event each week to ensure the appropriate time is set aside.
6-Establish the 1:1 Meeting Agenda Format: Setting a mutually agreeable agenda allows the both participants to show up prepared and with aligned expectations.
7-Prepare so you can look forward, not backward: Thoughtful preparation. If you submit your template to your leader the day before your one on one meeting, each will arrive at the meeting knowing what will be discussed and allow you to spend the bulk of your time looking to the future, brainstorming, creating action items, and connecting personally.
8-Focus on you and your projects and development: Avoid discussing other employees’ work during your time together, unless it’s specifically applicable to the conversation.
You’ve no doubt heard it a million times: Career advancement is as much about who you know as what you know—and that’s exactly why being a powerful networker is so important.
And mastering this crucial skill requires more than just schmoozing over cheese platters and exchanging business cards. There’s actually an art to it. True networking in its purest form, it’s about people enjoying other people, communicating passions and connecting with others who share those passions.
It’s about listening, figuring out what others need and connecting them with people you think can help, without any designs for personal gain. The most successful networkers build genuine relationships and give more than they receive.
They go beyond thinking, “What’s in it for me?” to ask “How can I help?” This is applies to both formal networking events as well as in our one-on-one conversation with another person.
So you have the desire to network? Below are ways to network successfully and have fun doing it.
Start networking before you need it. Networking when you have no ulterior motive, you can begin to build relationships and a reputation for being generous rather than self-serving.
Have a plan – of who you are. Since every person has value, it’s essential that you know what yours is. Get clear on what talents, strengths, skill sets and connections you can bring to the table. Map out what you want to talk about, particularly how you may be able to help other people, either now or in the future.
Have a plan – Schedule time. Aside from formal networking events, think about who you would like to reach out weekly, monthly, etc. and make a plan to do it. Set time for lunch or send an article that is relevant to something they are interested in – show interest.
Deepen Your Network Pool. Birds of a feather flock together – the more similar someone is to you, the more comfortable it feels to connect. We tend to hang out with people like ourselves—the same gender, ethnicity and academic background, etc., yet diversity is key to growing a strong personal network. So seek relationships with totally different people who can introduce you to brand-new social clusters.
Never dismiss anyone as unimportant. Make it your mission to discover the value in each person you talk to. Ask questions and listen with interest. Don’t make the mistake of discounting people due to their titles – they may have valuable connections or knowledge you’d never learn about if you’d dismissed them. Then, when the conversation ends, remember what that person has to offer. This will help you in the next bullet.
Forget your personal agenda and connect the dots. While you may be tempted to network just to land a job or talk to people you normally wouldn’t have access to, that’s a mistake. Instead, make it your goal to be open, friendly and honest, and to forge connections between people who may be able to help each other. Generosity is an attractive quality and it’s something special that people will remember about you.
Figure out how you can be useful. Before any conversation ends, be sure to ask, “How can I help you?” Because it’s done so rarely, you may encounter a surprised look, but it will most likely be accompanied by an appreciative smile. People will remember you as helpful and in turn may be more apt to help you in the future.
Follow up and follow through. If you told someone you’d get in touch with them, do it and reaffirm your intent to assist in any way you can. It takes no more than a minute to shoot off an email to introduce two people you want to connect. They can take it from there and do the work — just enjoy being the bridge. Little things like that mean a lot to people.
Believe in the power of networking. When you believe that the true value of networking lies in helping others and you do your part, you’ll soon discover magic happening all around you. The beauty of this approach is that you never know when that magic may cast its spell on you.
What are those areas you would like to expand or learn more about? Are there events you could attend? Or someone new to have lunch with? The more you do it, the easier (and more enjoyable) it becomes.
Excerpts from Secrets from Power Networking Pros, Forbes 2014
As John C. Maxwell once said, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Rapport is defined as a close and harmonious relationship in which the people understand each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well with each other (Websters). Building rapport and engaging people takes practice and much of it is based on intuition. Below are some tips:
Make a memorable impression. Dress appropriately for the occasion, smile, make eye contact and show enthusiasm for what you doing – when you enjoy what you do, it shows.
Be genuine.“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken”- Oscar Wilde. You are unique with special gifts and talents – use them. not try to mimic something you are not.
Show interest in hearing what others are thinking. Ask questions. Don’t think of a reply while the other person is talking; it limits hearing what is being said. Be people-focused, not self-focused.
Find common ground. Use open-ended questions to discover sincere, common experiences or ways to connect based on similar interests.
It’s all in the name! Remember the other person’s name and use it in the conversation. It’s a powerful word to the other person.
Consider asking for help with a simple, non-invasive request. People feel naturally connected to those that ask for help.
Give genuine compliments. This can go a long way towards building rapport and people appreciate it.
Mirror body language. Subtly mimicking same posture and body movements, gestures, and facial expressions helps build rapport by appearing in agreement or in support with the other person.
Lose the ego. Avoid correcting people or saying anything that could be interpreted as one-upmanship.
Consider small gifts. When people are offered something whether a physical token or with time and support, they often feel the desire to help you in return , or are more receptive to what you have to say.
Have a positive attitude – this helps ensure the other person walks away feeling better for having talked with you.
How are you going to practice building rapport today? Practice, practice, practice … makes perfect.
When we think of someone with integrity, we think of someone we can count on to come through on what they promise. Unfortunately, that’s not always a safe bet today.