leaders

Customer Experience Insulation

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The customer-driven market is the future of business. Those who thrive in it anticipate disruption, partner with key customers, relentlessly challenge the status quo, and drive, rather than adapt to, change. Decisions related to these strategies rely upon urgent, unfiltered feedback from customers. How insulated are you from this direct feedback? When a small business delivers a poor customer experience, the leaders quickly learn about it. Complaints rise and customers leave. Post-purchase reparations are expensive, and goal achievement is …

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3 Ways to Lead Better in the Virtual World

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The exclusive use of virtual business methods, fostered by our shared Covid experience, has challenged many leadership paradigms. Particularly hard hit are those processes that rely on interpersonal skills to develop trust and to cultivate the collaboration necessary for teams to drive change, take ownership and improve results.  Leaders who have traditionally used their relational skills to strengthen their personal connections with those they lead, to encourage open, transparent communication, and to better understand what emotions are motivating the …

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Cultivating Shared Accountability

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High performing teams embrace shared accountability. Having committed that the ownership of their decisions is shared by the team rather than by their leader alone, they rely on one another to achieve results. The leaders of these teams cultivate this environment of shared responsibility by: Ensuring that all team members operate under common standards of performance, fostering appreciation and satisfaction; Encouraging team members to challenge the status quo, to experiment, and to leverage their initiative and experience, driving …

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The Work of Leaders

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Creating value is the work of leaders.  It’s a perpetual challenge, involving the preservation of key customer relationships, the constant quest for innovations, and the relentless pursuit of quality, productivity and sustainability, all simultaneously occurring in accordance with the company’s culture.  Preserving proactive, strategic customer relationships yields insights about evolving aspirations, goals and needs, which enable adaptations to ensure that these valuable relationships endure.  Observing and assessing trends from industry or market engagements encourages the curiosity and anticipation …

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The Core of Emotional Intelligence

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Leaders with high emotional intelligence (EI) understand their own emotional state, enabling them to more accurately gauge the emotions of others, and to exercise empathy to better understand the genesis of these emotions. Employing empathy stimulates more thoughtful and productive dialogue, accelerating conflict resolution and producing more deliberate decisions. It’s the core ingredient of strong emotional intelligence. Leaders driving change appreciate the role that emotions play in motivating people to invest in change initiatives. Those who master the use of empathy, appreciate …

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3 Qualities of a High Performance Culture

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“Culture can account for up to half of the difference in operating profit between two organizations in the same business.” (Heskett @ Harvard) Consider these 3 qualities of a high performance culture: Across the organization, there is a shared ownership for customer success and business progress. People understand how they create value by making a difference for customers, for each other and for the Company. The purpose and profit motives for the business are aligned. Cross-functional collaboration and …

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3 Ways to Strengthen Emotional Intelligence

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The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be in building teams that collaborate, take ownership and deliver results. A leader’s strong interpersonal skills enable the creation of connections and the development of trust necessary to help teams achieve goals and drive change. Understanding how their emotions and actions affect those they lead, and engaging openly and transparently with their team, enables these leaders to guide, challenge and sustain their people. These …

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3 Factors For Leaders Driving Change

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Three factors enable leaders to drive change:  The leader is perceived as genuine and credible, consistently demonstrating conviction and modelling values-based behaviors, while being positive, transparent and open to feedback.  People trust that their leader has their back – that he or she understands what motivates and concerns them, and keeps this in mind when setting high, but realistic, expectations of them.  People feel respected and appreciated for their contributions, driven by the leader’s confidence …

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Change Takes Practice

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Wherever change energy is initially directed, there will be uncertainty, disruption, fear and discomfort among those who are impacted by the change. As a result, the first reaction to change initiatives is likely to be resistance; once the impact is clarified, advocates emerge who refocus their energy on learning more and seeking a means to contribute.  Leaders realize that inspiring these change advocates to invest their talent, energy and time is the first critical milestone in the change …

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3 Factors for Mastering Inspiration

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Bob Schultek Author of The Gauntlet To drive change, leaders inspire those they lead to invest extra time and energy in making a difference for themselves and their organization. They realize that mastering inspiration requires the synchronization of 3 factors: Their people trust that the leader has their back – that he or she understands what motivates and concerns them, is focused on them, and has high, but realistic, expectations of them. The leader is perceived as genuine and credible, consistently …

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