Dignity and Respect

At some point in your career as a leader, you will be challenged with circumstances or issues that will be personally hard for you to address. When you do, always remember to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

It is much easier if you are in the habit of treating everyone with dignity and respect when there are no issues to address.

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Productive Meetings

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings … how effective are your meetings?

Regardless of how effective you think your meetings are today, search for new ways to make them more productive and worthwhile for the attendees. Don’t be afraid to mix in an element of fun. Your meetings must have a meaningful purpose and relevant content.

Have you tried to calculate a ROI on your meetings lately?

Have you determined the true cost of your meetings and asked how many sales dollars it takes to pay for the meeting you are holding?

You’re the leader … spend your money wisely.

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Creating a Focal Point

I’m not sure how the morale is in your company or business unit, but most need a boost right now and as the leader it’s really up to you to deliver it. Try this;

Create a focal point and watch the magic return to your organization. A focal point is simply a meaningful theme that everyone on the team can relate to and makes them feel their job is important to the success of the company. It must be designed in a way that everyone can contribute to it the focal point must be easy to understand and measure.

Select a specific area to focus on … safety – productivity – bottom line – top line – market share – innovation or anything that is critical to your company’s success over the next six months. Give it a theme and have fun with it.

 

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Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.

Next Monday (16th) is Martin Luther King Day. It’s a day that we should reflect on the life and work of a great American leader.

Dr. King left us a leadership legacy and wisdom that I admire and continue to be inspired by.

One of my favorite quotes of his is: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Think about this quote … what does it really mean to you ?

Another one of my favorite MLK quotes is: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

I believe Dr. King inspired many with this quote, but unfortunately as time as gone on we see many who are just going to work and doing as little as possible to get by until the next pay check.

As a leader, how are you doing with inspiring those in your organization to do their jobs with the magic and artistry of Michelangelo and Beethoven  … and are you fully prepared to stand strong in times of challenge and controversy ?

If you’d like to download a complimentary copy of my collection of MLK Quotes – click here.

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Habitat for Humanity

I’m honored to participate with BCMC and Habitat for Humanity in the BCMC Build Project.

http://sbcmag.info/news/2011/oct/leadership-book-proceeds-benefit-bcmc-build

Preparedness

Think Things Through In Advance

In my opinion, one of the most neglected attributes of a leader is ‘preparedness’.  

I see too many leaders’ ‘busy doing’ with plenty of reacting and fire-fighting happening, but little thought given to effective implementation or preparation for the future. 

Think about this … as a leader of your business or your family, there will come a time when you will be looked upon to solve an unexpected and likely unwanted problem. 

It could be an accident on the way to the office or a flat tire-yours or someone else’s. The problem could be a short-term financial challenge you or someone else incurs. It could be a key employee who quits unexpectedly or a serious illness. 

Regardless of what the world delivers, an exceptional leader must be prepared to demonstrate leadership by taking action and creating a solution quickly for any and every situation. 

The leadership tip that can help you prepare for the unexpected is to allow yourself a minimum of 20-minutes a day to be alone to slow down and think … think without distractions.  

Think about the scenarios that you could be faced with and mentally prepare what you would do if they were to materialize. Or if your plans don’t turn out the way they were supposed to. 

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”  

Never put yourself in a position where you say, “I never saw that coming.” 

Enjoy your leadership journey!

Randy Goruk develops business leaders through his coaching, training and professional speaking services. His book ‘Sparks – A Business Fable; Leadership Actions That Will Ignite Your Organization’ is available at www.SparksTheBook.com

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Cheaters Never Win

Cheaters Never Win

I really don’t know what’s going on in this world … but once again, cheaters never win !

From my book ˜Sparks – A Business Fable’ I share this segment with you:

 ’I never want to be in a situation where so many business leaders have been lately-where they were caught doing something wrong and their actions were made public,’ he mused. ‘Adultery, stealing from the company, ripping off a customer, knowingly put out poor quality or dangerous product for personal or company gain or even anything as simple as lying to someone. It just isn’t worth it.’

And then just in the past week;

• We’ve had a number of Atlanta police officers fired and suspended for lying about the details of a case they were involved in
• Also in Atlanta we’ve had the Atlanta Public School superintendent resigning her leadership post because of a cheating on school test scores scandal. So now we don’t need to worry about kids cheating at school, we’ve got to worry about the teachers and their leaders cheating on behalf of the kids and then lying about it – read more here
• I don’t know who was lying in the Casey Anthony trial … but with all of the accusations  being thrown around … it’s logical to think that somebody was lying
• A famous major league baseball player  is at trial for lying to Congress … and to top it all off, this past weekend we’ve had a couple of professional football players in trouble with the law – but they’re denying all charges ranging from DUI to resisting arrest

My leadership tip for you this week comes from ‘Sparks‘ 

You must lead your organization with unwavering character !

Trust and respect in a manager is earned and essential to organizational success.

Exceptional leaders consistently demonstrate their true character in their words, actions, and behaviors. They are sincere, truthful, fair, embracing of diversity, respectful of the rules, non-hypocritical, and quick to give credit where credit is due.

 People want to work for someone they trust and respect.  

You should also surround yourself with people of high character and integrity – hold them to a high standard and hold them accountable for their behavior. 
 
Finally, learn to pay attention to the signals that liars send you -  here is a great article to help you identify when someone is lying to you.
 
The world will be a better place if we could get everyone to realize that cheaters never win !

Do what you can – it’s not a one person job.

Enjoy your leadership journey. 

Randy Goruk develops business leaders through his coaching, training and professional speaking services. His book ‘Sparks – A Business Fable; Leadership Actions That Will Ignite Your Organization’ is available at www.SparksTheBook.com

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Drop a Bad Habit Today

What Habits Drive You Crazy ?

Great leaders are always looking for ways to improve themselves personally and professionally.  This continuous effort of self-improvement is part of the leadership journey and at times can be hard to do … particularly when it comes to self-critique. 

My leadership tip for you this week is to drop at least one bad habit by the end of this month – think of it as a ‘second half resolution’ instead of a ‘new year’s resolution’ … by eliminating a bad habit, you will have accomplished an important step towards becoming a better leader.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could eliminate one (or more) bad habit(s) this month?

What are you thinking? … That you have no bad habits?

 Heck, we all have bad habits!

 Here are a few classic examples:

• Interrupting someone when they’re talking
• Taking days to return a phone call
• Checking your personal email while working
• Using inappropriate language
• Not accepting the feedback of others

Or, maybe you use one or more of these over used and annoying words or phrases?

• “Absolutely”
• “At the end of the day”
• “24 – 7”
• “Here’s the deal”
• “Think outside of the box” 

Still think you’re clear of any bad habits?  Then I challenge you to ask someone in your organization this question; “What one thing would you like to see me stop doing?” … They’ll tell you!

I don’t think there is anything such as ‘eliminate a bad habit month’ … but wouldn’t it be great if you could eliminate at least one bad habit this month?

Enjoy your leadership journey!

Randy Goruk develops business leaders through his coaching, training and professional speaking services. His book ‘Sparks – A Business Fable; Leadership Actions That Will Ignite Your Organization’ is available at www.SparksTheBook.com

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Are You Achieving Your Goals ?

Are You Achieving Your Goals ?

Consider this quote from American philosopher and writer Elbert Hubbard;

“Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.” 

We are quickly approaching the mid-point of the year … so as a leadership coach who holds people accountable for their performance; I have a couple of questions for you:  

Are you likely or unlikely to achieve your 2011 business goal(s) ?

Are you likely or unlikely to achieve your 2011 personal goal(s)? 

If you answered unlikely to either of these questions, the follow up questions to help you think things through are: 

What is causing you to fall short of achieving your goal(s)?

What are you going to do about it?

My leadership tip for you is to be sure that you are set with realistic business and personal goals for the second half of the year … and that you organize your energies around achieving them. 

It’s easy to say but hard to do. So here is a collection of 13 other quotes to help inspire you.

Enjoy your leadership journey. 

Randy Goruk develops business leaders through his coaching, training and professional speaking services. His book ‘Sparks – A Business Fable; Leadership Actions That Will Ignite Your Organization’ is available at www.SparksTheBook.com

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Put Your Phone Away

Put Your Phone Away !

 Last night my wife and I were out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. I couldn’t help but notice a young couple and their children settle at a table near ours. Mom and kids were dressed in summer attire and dad was still in his business clothes complete with white shirt and tie. The kids, ages two and six were well-behaved … but the dad wasn’t.

Dad sat there at the table, working his ‘smart phone’ pretty hard. Seemed to me he was looking at and responding to email while ignoring his wife and kids for about ten minutes – quite the multi-tasker. 

Dad isn’t the only person multi-tasking these days. Have you ever seen a television camera shot of the fans at a major league baseball game? There always seems to be a handful of people on their cell phones or testing, tweeting, emailing or something – maybe they’re playing a game?

We see these preoccupied multi-tasking people everywhere. While we’re driving, shopping, at movie theatres, walking down the street at social gatherings … seemingly everywhere! 

Maybe dad should put his phone away and engage in conversation with his family. Maybe he should listen to what they have to say and answer their questions instead of those from an email message that can probably wait until later that night or first thing in the morning.  

Put your phone away !!  Engage in conversation with those around you  - listen … watch the ballgame or the movie. If no one is around, take the time to think …yes to think … and to plan. There is too much ‘doing’ and not enough thinking or planning going on these days. Great leaders are masters of thinking and planning.

If you can be disciplined to put your phone away … others will follow your lead.

 

Randy Goruk develops business leaders through his coaching, training and professional speaking services. His book ‘Sparks – A Business Fable; Leadership Actions That Will Ignite Your Organization’ is available at www.SparksTheBook.com

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