Author: LeadArtfully

How do I improve my self awareness at work

It’s impossible to become an effective leader without self-awareness. Every leader possesses a unique set of attributes that helps them develop their own style. But equally every leader, no matter how seasoned, has weaknesses. Learning how to improve self-awareness is critical in understanding how we come across to others.

What is self-awareness?
Self-awareness is defined as the ability to be mindfully aware of your motivations, fears, insecurities, beliefs and thinking. Leaders who are self-aware are conscious of their strengths and weaknesses. This helps with identifying what to focus on improving. It means being more realistic about yourself and understanding how others perceive you.
If you see the following traits in yourself, you may need to work on becoming more self-aware:
1. You find yourself micro-managing others
The desire to micro-manage usually stems from a lack of trust. Perhaps you don’t think others will do it as well as you, or to a certain standard.
2. You avoid taking blame
It may be common for you to become defensive or dismissive when something goes wrong.
3. You’re often anxious and stressed
Stress is normal in life, but an inability to pinpoint the underlying cause may be caused by low self-awareness.
4. You indulge in passive-agressive behaviour
Critical barbs directed at others simply because they disagree with you, or you dislike them, may stem a defensive mechanism or insecurity.
By becoming more self-aware, we can play to our strengths while identifying weaknesses as developmental opportunities rather than something to feel bad about.
[To learn more about what motivates us as humans, see our related article]

Benefits of becoming more self-aware
1. Improved response to stress
Self-awareness helps you identify stress triggers, meaning you’re able to modulate your reaction. Rather than have a knee-jerk reactions to adverse situations, you take a breath first. You know what to do to reduce your stress levels. A leader who learns how to improve self awareness is less susceptible to burnout.
[To learn more about building resilience to reduce stress, see our related article]
2. Better Time Management
By becoming more aware of when and how you work best, you can manage your time better. Some of us are morning people, and some of us definitely aren’t. Understanding what works best for you means you can better plan when to fit in complex tasks into your day.
[To learn more about improving time management skills, see our related article]
3. Grow empathy and understanding
Self-awareness helps you understand the impact of your emotions on others. We’re only human, and it’s natural to experience stress or frustration at work. As we become more self-aware, we understand how negative emotions affects others. By also observing these behaviours in others, we can adjust our response rather than simply reacting. This means you’re more able to control your emotions. It allows you to better remain professional, and not take things personally.

Common impediments to growth
Self-awareness not only improves your relationship with your team, but a positive impact on company performance. However, it is common to feel that the pace of life leaves gives us little time to reflect on ourselves.
The process of learning how to improve self awareness can be impeded by fear of self-discovery. An unwillingness to break away from old habits, or the tendency to be comfortable with the status-quo.
Tips for becoming more self-aware
So, developing self-awareness requires consistent effort, commitment and time. But like any personal development, it is an investment. Let’s look at some effective self-awareness tips.
1. Reflection
Learning from past experiences and failures is the best way to gain insights about yourself. Analyse past incidents calmly and ask yourself the reason you may have reacted in a specific manner. While framing the reason for the reaction or emotion, write down how you wished you’d responded. For example, you may be pondering on why you snapped at your team member during a meeting. Was it because you were tired? Were you stressed about an upcoming performance review? Do you harbour an irrational dislike towards the individual?

2. Identify your strengths and weaknesses (personal SWOT analysis)
To identify how to improve self awareness try doing a personal SWOT analysis. Write down your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for improvement, and perceived threats. Consider asking yourself the following questions to discover your strengths and weaknesses:
> Things I’m good at?
> What have other people complimented me most about?
> Which skills or strengths have helped me achieve my goals?
> Where have I needed assistance?
> What projects and interactions seem to drain my energy?
> In which areas have I frequently encountered problems?
This form of self-analysis can prove to be challenging to do. We may not ask the right questions, or internal mental blocks may prevent us from acknowledging the truth.

3. Psychometric Tests
Additionally, psychometric tests and analysis are logical, scientific ways to understand your strengths, weaknesses, core traits and preferences. They help evaluate yourself and illustrate your areas of strengths and developmental opportunities.
A psychometric test will also reveal your emotional drivers, basic behaviour, conflicts and communication abilities. Professional self-awareness workshops go a long way in helping you explore your inner self.

4. Seek feedback from those you trust
Also important is getting a different opinion. Request your peers, mentors and team their perspective into your personality. When you do this, ensure that you adopt a willing attitude without the need for self-justification or defensiveness. An open-minded approach will help you gain useful insights about how you appear to others.

Final thoughts
Self-awareness skills help leaders understand their strengths and vulnerabilities and what truly motivates their actions. Leaning into your strengths while working on weaknesses will help you learn and adapt new strategies. This is key for your own personal growth as a leader, and enables you to develop a style all your own to achieve the best outcomes. A self-aware leader is simply more effective. They can quickly assess and regulate their own behaviour to suit the situation, in an honest and mindful way.
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October 8, 2020
How to run an effective meeting

Did you know that there are more than 50 million meetings held daily all around the world? There is a good chance you are reading this on your way to or from a meeting! Do you find most meetings are dull or simply a waste of time? For organisations, unproductive meetings result in unresolved problems and lost productivity. The lost opportunity costs surely run in the billions, if not trillions. How to run an effective meeting seems to be becoming a lost art.
And what of the hit to staff morale? Employees feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of meetings that they are obliged to attend. Meetings were once considered as a powerful coordination tool for success. But nowadays most of us regard them as a necessary evil. And usually a waste of time. It’s time we all asked ourselves, “how do I run an effective meeting?”

First, what are the signs of an ineffective meeting?
Too many teams have meetings for the sake of having a meeting. The following are red flags indicating a meeting is likely to be a waste of time:

1. There is no meeting agenda
A big warning sign of a potentially unproductive meeting is the absence of an agenda. Read out the agenda at the start. Empower participants advise if things veer off track.
Therefore, the first step on how to run an effective meeting is the agenda. Well-structured agendas are the best foundation. Here is a few ABC’s of how to create a winning agenda:
a) Agenda – needs to have bullet pointed items and include sources of supporting information (or links to the relevant documents).
b) Be clear – Explain the purpose of each item on the agenda. For example, is the item for discussion, informational, or to decide something? Also be clear on the starting on time and place.
c) Control items – when important but unrelated topics come up for discussion, add them to a “parking lot”. This ensures they aren’t lost, but don’t create a meeting inside a meeting. These should be covered off separately, offline to this meeting. Any items that need further analysis are ‘parked’ there. This helps you keep to the allocated meeting times and duration.
d) Discuss relevant topics – Only discuss topics that are relevant to the participants present. Unrelated topics result in either disengagement, or wasted time.
2. Participants are disengaged or distracted
Quit the gadgets! If attendees are texting, emailing, or having their own side-conversations during meetings this needs to be stopped. As the leader, lay some ground rules before the meeting begins. For example, you can request team members to put phones in silent mode, or take urgent calls by excusing themselves first.
Spot a yawn? Try and make the meeting more interesting. Involve everyone, avoid lengthy monologues, and engage in fun team building activities. Allocate tasks evenly, rather than to a few individuals.
3. There are no meeting minutes or follow-ups
Meeting minutes are the summary of events that occurred during the meeting. These should include what was agreed. To keep the current meeting on track, read out the minutes of the last meeting, or get agreement that the last minutes captured were correct before you begin.
Minutes should include the venue, date and time, list of participants, topics discussed, and decisions made. These are circulated after the meeting to all attendees. Once the meeting is over, the summary of actions or follow-ups activities required. The meeting minutes are an important way to review progress and identify unresolved issues. They needs to be concise and to the point. Follow-up actions also need to include who is responsible (action owners) and when the activity is due.
4. Lack of Preparedness
How to run an effective meeting comes down to good preparation. When you send out the agenda, advise how each person should prepare. For example, if you need a report from someone as evidence for a meeting decision, let them know. Ask participants to advise you of any problems a few days before the meeting. Make sure you give them enough time to prepare. You need to be well prepared yourself.
5. Long-winded discussions without clear decisions
Meetings often involve lengthy discussions about the items without producing any clear outcome. Such meetings typically finish late, with people complaining about the waste of time. Complex topics like strategy discussions, are often unstructured and involve numerous points of view. These need to be run like decision-making exercises, with a clear objective.
So, how do you run effective, decision-making meetings?
> Stick to the agenda and discourage people from discussing “off track” topics.
> Allocate enough time so everyone can have their say. Allow no more than a few minutes each for closing remarks from participants.
> Insist on a decision before breaking up, unless there are pressing concerns that need to be resolved first.

6. Imbalance between passive and dominate participants
Dominant team members often monopolise meetings. This leads to other participants feeling bored, impatient, or frustrated. As the leader, make sure you politely move the discussion along, and allow everyone to contribute their inputs. Address passive (quiet) participants by name and encourage them to voice their opinion through direct questions.
As the leader make sure you are not the one dominating and doing all the talking! This will cause your team to clam up if they think you have already made up your mind. This will cause you to lose valuable inputs and insights from your team.
[Non-verbal cues are an important way to identify individuals who are open or closed to discussions. See our related article on body language for more information.]
Once the meeting is over, monitor that the team moves on with follow-up actions and decisions. This where the minutes come in useful, so everyone knows what is expected of them and things don’t get lost. Remember to circulate it soon after the meeting ends (typically within a day or two).

7. Wrong meeting participants
Only the people who need to be there, should be invited. It may sound pretty basic, but this is often overlooked. The other benefit of having a clear agenda is that it should be obvious who needs to attend. You can make non-essential people ‘optional attendees’ if there is information being covered that they may be of interested. But you can also cover this off by simply including them on the meeting minutes circulation.

Finally…
The art of how to run an effective meeting may have been lost by some, but you can rediscover it! A well-structured, well-planned and well-executed meeting is powerful thing. They promote new ideas, encourage feedback, strengthens relationships, resolves problems, and helps the organisation make timely and important decisions. Now that is the sort of meeting I don’t mind going to. How about you?
Recommended reading:

October 5, 2020
Why won’t my staff use their initiative?

Do you constantly find yourself asking why won’t my staff use their initiative? Are you struggling with how to handle employees when staff don’t think in their feet?
It’s every employer’s dream to hire proactive and engaged employees who can complete new tasks without excessive hand holding. The term ‘initiative’ refers to a combination of resourcefulness, resilience and determination. People who use their initiative ask questions, do things without being told, take on challenges and most importantly, act instead of reacting.
You can’t pivot if you don’t improvise
Organisations today value employees who can think on their feet, overcome difficulties and think of new ways to do things. Businesses and work cultures all over the world are undergoing a paradigm shift, in the aftermath of the COVID-19, and the ability to take initiative is rapidly becoming a sought-after attribute.
Lack of initiative is usually a red flag that could indicate a disengaged workforce where you may risk losing skilled, productive employees. Showing initiative is not a one-day effort; it’s an ongoing process that is reinforced with consistent encouragement and motivation.
So why won’t my staff use their initiative?
The most common reasons for lack of initiative include:
• Struggling with an excessive workload; you don’t want to take on extra work.
• Feeling that you are not qualified or experienced enough to take on the task.
• Experiencing fear or apprehension with the prospect of failure; the organisation encourages a ‘blame culture’ where employees often have to face flak for trying something new.
• Your employees don’t see any advantage in showing initiative; there is no reward or reinforcement system in place.
• Your employees feel uncomfortable and don’t feel a sense of belonging; they’re hesitant to voice their ideas due to fear of criticism or stress at work.

How initiative affects the workplace
At work, staff initiative is crucial as it shows you that your employees are willing to go the extra mile to drive results or resolve problems.
An inability to improve can be seen in the unwillingness to exercise judgement when something a unexpected occurs. You may also notice an unwillingness to invest effort or hard work; some who lack initiative will find a way to get out of any hard work that is required.
Sadly, staff who lack initiative pass up valuable opportunities, reduce productivity and may disrupt the performance of others. Such staff not only procrastinate on tasks but may also give you excuses on why they can’t do something even before they’ve started.
“but we’ve always done it this way…”
If your team lacks initiative, there is a high chance the organisation is tied to old ways of doing things. The business will be unable to move with the times, and symptoms will appear such as increasing customer complaints, inflexibility, and conflict with internal teams. The organisation is likely to lose out on new opportunities and growth.
You might be surprised to learn that you could be reinforcing the problem, as the manager or employer within the company. Your staff may be interested in taking the initiative but may be held back for various reasons, all of which can be resolved.
How to work with employees who aren’t taking the initiative
Of course we are not suggesting employers merely push employees to take fool-hardy risks. Leaders need to encourage staff to be forward-thinking, innovative and confident.
How you deal with an team member lacking initiative depends entirely on the cause. The following strategies describe what you, as leader, can do to resolve the issue:
Step 1: Meet
Meet the employee one-on-one for an honest, up front discussion. While lack of initiative can be traced to fear of consequences, at times, it could be due to inability or even laziness.
Step 2: Offer solutions
Offer solutions based on the cause. For example, if the employee fears reprimand from the management, assure them of your support. Similarly, if the employee lacks the requisite skills, consider providing training.
Step 3: Observe & respond
If you discover that the root cause for lack of initiative is laziness or poor work attitude, you will need to take performance management steps as soon as possible. If you ignore poor performance, it spreads to other members of your team. But first talk to the individual and identify the problem showing clear examples, and give them an opportunity to address it. If they don’t address it, then follow formal performance management processes carefully! Employment laws differ in each country, but most jurisdictions have set rules of engagement in this area that you will need to follow. But it needs to be done, don’t put it off.
Step 4: Reward initiative
Reward those employees that do use their initiative. Often a genuine thank you in front of their peers (or a team email shout out) is a great way to encourage the behaviour, and make special mentions in performance appraisals. Also consider a gift, bonus in their pay, or a full or half day off. Gifts don’t need to be big or expensive, a thoughtful gesture goes a long way.
Step 5: Forgive mistakes
If the employee has made an error and you need to give feedback, use empowering words and inform them that you appreciate their effort despite the error. Find the positives! Remember, mistakes are portals to discovery.
Step 6: Empower
Empower your staff members to make decisions. Lengthy office protocols and red tape may prevent employees from using their initiative. Let them know upfront what types of decisions you’re happy for them to make, and let them make them.
Note sure how to delegate new work effectively? Check out our article on when you should delegate.
Step 7: Stay engaged
Stay engaged with your employees by staying involved with what’s going on. This can be challenging when working remotely, so have daily catch-ups. Doing this will prevent even lazy employees from wasting time and adopting a poor attitude, or at least give you evidence of such behaviours through observation.
And most importantly…
Lead! Recognise that mistakes are learning experiences and refrain from criticising your team in public or using inappropriate language to upbraid them. Create a supportive, encouraging culture in the workplace that motivates your staff to step out of their comfort zones and use their initiative willingly. If you find yourself asking “why won’t my staff use their initiative” – you will need to so something about it!
Recommended reading:

October 5, 2020
How to know if it’s unconscious bias
Unconscious bias in the workplace (and in life) works in a subtle way that can negatively skew decision-making. Diversity inclusion training is becoming a common approach to creating a more harmonious workplace, usually done by running a one-off course for staff. But can this really be successful in removing centuries of unreasonable inequities and bias? We look at bias in the workplace, and the problems it creates, and explore proactive techniques to adopt more sustainable strategies to level out the playing field.

What is unconscious bias?
Each person brings their subconscious biases to work. These are deeply ingrained beliefs that span gender, ethnicity, colour, sexual orientation, physical appearance, age, and anything that can make us different. Inner prejudices tend to be more powerful as they are triggered without our conscious knowledge.
Most of us are well-intentioned and empathetic individuals. However, our hidden inner prejudices about other people influence every decision, including whom we promote. Unconscious or implicit bias is a ‘whisper at the back of the mind’. It impacts peoples lives daily and costs businesses millions of dollars every year in lost opportunities.
According to a 2019 Deloitte report, employees in New Zealand workplaces experienced bias on a daily basis. This has significant affect on their experience, performance, and morale.

Why is unconscious bias bad for business?
Although unconscious bias exists in the mind, it has a very real damaging effects on the workplace. It affects your organisation in multiple ways:
Employees begin to feel isolated and side-lined due to age, gender, race, or even marital status.
There is increased work absenteeism due to stress related illnesses.
Work output and efficiency get affected as team dynamics suffer.
Team members and employees experience resentment, low engagement levels, and dissatisfaction.
Unconscious or implicit bias can make you pass over a more talented employee in favour of someone else just because they share your ideas, characteristics, or beliefs. Numerous studies support that greater diversity in the workplace can have significant impact on improving organisational performance. A recent study by Harvard University found that diversity improves engagement and belonging by staff. It also reduces staff attrition rates and improves overall morale and trust in the companies leadership.

Self-identifying unconscious bias
Asking the following questions will help you become more aware of your prejudices:
Are you more comfortable dealing with people who look, speak or think like you?
Do you automatically purse your lips, straighten your back, or tense-up while speaking to someone from a different culture?
Do you find yourself glancing away or breaking eye contact while interacting with someone who is different from you in appearance?
As a manager, do you subconsciously allocate more challenging tasks to men over women?
Does your voice unconsciously become louder, more patronising or disparaging while speaking to specific employees?
Do you ever find yourself “mansplaining” to some individuals?
Implicit bias training tests help us examine our psyche and understand our beliefs better. Once you become aware of your own biases, you become more mindful of your tone, body language, and behaviours.

Is it really unconscious bias?
There are several testing tools available online to assess your beliefs and attitudes. Here is a simple strategy to identify if unconscious bias:
Observe and write down the first thought that pops into your mind when you meet or interact with someone. The first thought is the best starting point for analysis.
With that first thought in your mind, ask yourself if you would have had the same opinion or presumption if the person belonged to another group. If so, then chances are you have just exposed a bias.

Types of Unconscious Bias
We often harbour different types of biases. Below are a few common implicit biases that may be affecting your decisions:
Affinity Bias: This is where we relate more easily to people who share common characteristics. These include ethnicity, colour, race, religion, or culture.
Beauty Bias: People tend to unconsciously favour good-looking candidates, regardless of skills or ability to carry the role well.
Conformity bias: This is where we are drawn to those who agree with us, rather than consider opposing or different views.
Contrast bias: Instead of assessing an employee on their own merit, it is common to compare and contrast their qualities with others and focus on negative aspects. When this occurs it you can miss other key strengths an individual may bring.

How to identify unconscious bias in the workplace
The presence of bias at work is subtle and can be challenging to identify. Professionally executed bias tests help reveal diversity, inclusion, and bias problems. Diversity is key to performance. If we all think the same way, then we will be missing opportunities!
Below are some warning signs of unconscious bias in your workplace:
Women are often placed in supporting rather than leadership roles; women in executive positions are perceived as cold, selfish, and aggressive.
You assume that married employees will want to avoid out of area work opportunities, or after-hours tasks.
The name on the resume influences your decision to hire or not. For example, an Anglo-Saxon name may bias you in favour of the applicant even before reviewing his or her resumé.
Employees who are perceived as physically attractive enjoy more privilege and are generally treated better than others.

How to tackle it
Once identified, unconscious bias can be addressed. Accepting that every one of us has implicit biases, and becoming more mindful of your thinking and actions, is the first step.
Set ground rules for yourself and your employees. Encourage inclusive practices and widen your social circle. Check in with your peers and staff. Ask how they feel they are being treated. Observe interactions between others in your team. Ensure these are fair, open, and courteous. Monitor your decisions and consciously eliminate stereotyping of people.
Use external and internal assessments for bias testing to highlight strengths, weakness, and areas for improvement.

Final thoughts
If our inner prejudices are more powerful because they are triggered without our conscious knowledge, then developing techniques to identify them enables us to reduce their influence. Being more mindful and honest with ourselves of our own shortcomings is always the key to growth.
October 4, 2020
How important is gut feel at work?

Have you ever felt uneasy about doing something, because something “feels doesn’t feel right”? This is your gut instinct giving you a warning of danger. Your gut instinct can be a valuable tool at work, as well as in your private life.

So what is gut feel?
Gut feel, intuition, or instinct, is your physical reaction to the world outside of you, and your near light-speed internal processing of that information against your own life experiences and beliefs. There is communication between our brain and our gut. An example of when “gut feeling” occurs is often when we meet somebody for the first time. Something may not seem right about them, but perhaps we can’t pinpoint exactly what it is. This can occur when what they say or do doesn’t fit with what their body language is telling your subconscious. Often we make up our mind about someone in those first instances of meeting them. If we perceive some sort of deception is going on or if something just feels “off”, we can have a negative association about that person from that moment on.

Is there a difference between emotion and intuition?
Intuition is not emotion. It’s a process that gives rise to the gut feeling, that in turn can trigger an emotional reaction. However, intuition does more than produce feelings, it gives knowledge and insight about certain topics.
Everyone can be intuitive but few have enough trust in their intuition. We demand evidence based on analysis even though the knowledge so obtained is limited. Intuition and foresight are closely related. Anyone who has ever had a sudden insight can attest to this. Everything seems to connect at such times. Such occasions are called eureka moments.

The ‘Eureka moment’
Have you ever been burdened with some problem, which may be a trivial, or it could be a problem of momentous importance to us that we can’t think of anything else. All of a sudden the solution is obvious. Often this even occurs when we relax and let our minds drift on to other things. This can even occur at night as we are drifting off to sleep. Such an occurrence is called the eureka or aha moment. The eureka moment is the sudden solving of a problem. It’s a part of decision-making and, it often results from using apparent intuition.
As we have said, intuition is using our instincts instead of or perhaps with conscious and sub-conscious analysis. It is the ‘inner voice’ and guides us throughout our lives. It comes from these gut-feelings.

Gut instinct and complexity decisions
When it comes to decision making, there are two approaches. The analytical one, dependent on research and analysis of probable and possible outcomes. And the gut instinct approach.
Many of us tend to use the latter approach in emotional matters, but what about business? In fact, several scientific studies show we should pay close attention to “the inner voice”. When combined with some analysis of evidence, these studies show better decisions are made.
This research is based on that of Nobel prize-winner Daniel Kahneman[1], [2], which showed that humans frequently use intuition, instead of information and analysis. Even Albert Einstein once said, “The only real valuable thing is intuition.”

Where does intuition and sudden insights come from?
While many believe in divine inspiration from a higher power, reality is much closer to earth. Our brains are quite impressive creations. They are able to process vast amounts of information from both external and internal sources simultaneously, when we allow them to. This often feels like we are acquiring knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. But we are in fact accessing direct and unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; inner sensing; inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition; resulting in the ability to understand something instinctively, without any need for conscious reasoning[3].

Some historic examples
Adolf Hitler started the Second World War, which led to the death of countless millions of people and at its end found Germany devastated and defeated. However, early on in the war Germany was winning and largely victorious. Hitler strongly believed in his instinct and was very confident of it. He was convinced it came from God. He made the declaration,” I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker.” Luckily for us, he over reached and became blind to any other reason or fact, and started to make more and more irrational decisions, that ended up costing him the war.
Another example from that same period comes from Winston Churchill, leader of the United Kingdom at the time. According to his book, The Gathering Storm, just after he had become Prime Minister in 1940 he said, “I felt I was walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial.”[4]

What of intuition in business?
Looking at a commercial example, there is the case of Henry Ford[5] in 1914. He was faced with declining demand for his cars. The worker turnover in his factories was high, and increasing. He thought long and hard about these dilemmas.
The solution, in a moment of extraordinary insight, led him to double the wages of his employees. The effect was that, within a year, the turnover of staff had fallen sharply while productivity had greatly increased. So the labour cost of manufacturing actually reduced. The demand for Ford cars grew as Ford’s workers could also now afford to buy them.
I find going with my gut instinct at work is key when interviewing candidates for a new role. I’ve made the best call when I go with my gut in this area. Twice recently I’ve hired people for roles who weren’t the most qualified candidates, but they had what I “felt”, the best attitude and team fit. On another occasion an interview panel member convinced me to hire someone I had my doubts about, and so I went against my intuition. It was an abysmal failure for both the candidate and the team, and they left within a year.

Intuition vs factual analysis
Despite the strong evidence for trusting your intuition, there is an equal place for good advice and sound analysis when making both life and business decisions. Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that their gut instinct alone is always right should be prepared for a few nasty setbacks. Listening to good advice and competent analysis is absolutely essential to weigh up the facts. If your gut is still literally screaming the contrary to you, then I wouldn’t discount it.
References
[1] Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Penguin UK.
[2]Gilovich, T., Griffin, D., & Kahneman, D. (2002). Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment. Cambridge University Press.
[3] Wikipedia definition of intuition.
[4] Winston Churchill. (1985). The gathering storm. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
[5] Burgan, M., & HQ, W. (2014). Who was Henry Ford? Penguin.

October 4, 2020
Leading by example in the workplace

An example of great success due to leading by example is provided by General Curtis Lemay.
Who was Curtis Lemay?
He was an American aviator, who eventually became Chief of Staff of the entire US air force in the early 1960s. During World War II, he was posted to Europe in command of a bomber group. He was very dissatisfied with the results that his bombers were achieving and believed they could do much better. How did he rectify this?
He devised a new strategy that he was convinced was better. To prove this, he flew in a lead bomber, in extreme danger, to show that it did. It was a very successful method and completely transformed the methods of bombing that the Americans used.
Leadership in a crisis
Despite Covid-19, we currently live in more peaceful times than Lemay. But during a crisis you don’t have to look far to identify those who understand the importance of leading by example.

Santander chairperson Ana Botin took a 50% pay cut when the Covid-19 crisis arose. The wages she sacrificed will be used to boost a fund for medical equipment designed for the Covid-19 crisis. Ms. Botin set a good example and showed sensible leadership at a time when so many in her company and in Spain, where it is based, are experiencing great difficulty.
Similarly, the United Airlines CEO and the President of that airline both forsook their salaries during June 2020 and they also took a pay cut because of the massive reduction in air travel as a result of Covid-19. Both have been praised for their leadership by example in this trying time.

Poor leadership examples
Sadly, not all examples of leadership during crisis illustrate leaders doing the right thing. Here is one, where leadership by example was absent and selfishness obvious.
In New Zealand, a country, whose record in the Covid-19 crisis management has been outstanding, the then Minister of Health, David Clark, twice broke the lock-down rules in that country. Instead of following his own government rules, he went out driving and bike riding. One such occurrence happened the same day he advised the rest of the country to “stay home and be safe”. Because of this manifest failure, he was massively demoted. Other examples from other countries can easily be found.
Even small acts matter
But you don’t need a crisis to see the importance good managers put in leading by example. At a local supermarket, the cashiers are friendly, knowledgeable, and very effective. The store manager frequently takes to the till herself, particularly if the supermarket is busy. Her willingness to shoulder the burden of those she leads plays no small part in the success of this supermarket. Staff attrition rates are low and you can tell the people their love their jobs and customers likewise feel welcomed.
Equally powerful are those that do not practice what they preach. At one of the schools where I taught, the principal wanted the school to do well in a public exam so he instituted a system of tutorials, which took place before the school day began. The staff, who were very dedicated, had to get up early to put this into practice and as a consequence, the results of the school greatly improved in the exam.
The only problem was that the principal was not one of the teachers of these tutorials, despite having a Master’s degree on the subject. So he failed to lead by example. There may have been perfectly valid reasons for this which weren’t communicated. So to those at the coal face, his non-appearance was a source of bitter disappointment to staff.
In this example, the principal should have led by example. But why? Because when good people feel like their commitment to their job is being taken for granted, they leave or quickly lose motivation. Trust in the leader is also undermined. The alternative to setting a good example is to lead by force or fear, neither of which are sustainable.

Being a role model
Here are some of the attributes that most managers want an employee to have:
1. Be passionate about their work
2. Keep an open mind
3. Their job title should not be an impediment or shield to any task
4. They should be honest in all they do
5. They should have a reputation for integrity
6. They must always strive to improve the systems of their workplace
7. They must practice what they preach (lead by example!)
8. They must communicate clearly
9. They should be a great team player
10. They should have empathy- the ability to understand what others are feeling
11. They should have courage
If a leader wants their team to have these qualities, then they themselves first need to have them and in abundance. If not, then not only will the manager lose all credibility, but staff will quickly become disenfranchised. After all, would you rather work for someone who inspires you, or someone you learn to mistrust or even despise?
The most powerful tool you have as leader is the example you set for others.
So, what behaviours do you model?
Recommended reading:
1. Baldoni, J. (2008). Lead by example: 50 ways great leaders inspire results. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
2. Secretan, L. (2004). Inspire! What great leaders do. John Wiley & Sons.
3. McCastler, G. (2016). Lead by example. Page Publishing.
4. Sinek, S. (2009). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.
5. McGalliard, A. (2019). Care to lead: How to master and implement four keys to leadership: Communication, accountability, relationships and example of Excel. Archangel Ink.

October 1, 2020
What is the difference between leadership and management?

Aren’t leadership and management just the same thing?
Leadership and management are not the same thing, and that is a common misconception. After-all, we often call our leaders “managers” by title. So what is the difference between leadership and management? A simple way to think about it is that leadership is that act of inspiring and motivating others to reach a common goal, while management is concerned with things like planning, organising, and control. By these very definitions, someone who is in a management role will need to do both at certain times.
So, let us take a closer look at what behaviours, skills, and examples we have for each, in a little more detail.

Leadership
If a leader’s role is to inspire and motivate others to reach a common goal, then a leader needs to understand how to motivate people, how to encourage them along the way, and how to communicate a clear vision of what the desired outcomes look like. So, these things require a focus on people, relationships, adaptability, and some pretty good communication skills.
To focus on people, a leader assembles the right team (or unifies an existing team), sets the direction, and behaves in such a way to ensure everyone in the team is following agreed values. They need to spot and resolve staff conflict that inevitably arise, and stay the course. A leader also encourages staff, leads by example, remains positive, and plays a support role. All of this builds team member confidence.
A good leader needs to be confident and positive in their own plan and be trustworthy in order to inspire others to follow a shared goal. To achieve this they need to listen and take on feedback from others, take personal responsibility for the team, and remain committed to the cause. A successful leader focuses on the needs of their people, motivates and inspires, and remains open and flexible to new ideas. To show true leadership, they are also prepared to make unpopular calls, if they know it is the right one. The best leaders I’ve worked with are also highly knowledgeable in their field, but don’t pretend to have all the answers.
[You may want to check out our article on sought after leadership skills for 2020 and beyond]

Management
On the flip-side, the focus of management is on things rather than people. The associated activities are planning, organising, and control. A good manager needs to be skilled in these areas. To support this, they need to be able to delegate tasks, solve problems, have good commercial acumen, and think strategically.
The ability for a manager to be able to mentor staff around process and organisational knowledge is key to build staff competence and performance. This allows a manager delegate tasks more effectively, ensuring the right individuals are working on the right things. Work is well structured and prioritised so important tasks are completed first. All of this improving team efficiency.
Finally, by putting in good management systems and processes means the team focus on the right performance measures and outcomes. This not only improves planning and quality control, but also enables the early identification of problems. The old saying is still true today, you can’t manage what you’re not measuring. Just make sure you’re measuring what’s important.
[Also, you may want to check out our article on the most sought after management skills]
Focusing on the differences between Leadership and Management
To lead is to manage, to manage is to lead…
They are two sides of the same coin, but important to differentiate. To be good leader, you need to be able to manage well. And to manage successfully, you will need to lead well. Both skills are equally important. As your skills in both improve, chances are you will gain more responsibility and your leadership scope will increase. When this happens, you may need to manage more teams, and more complex outcomes. The greater the scope the more leadership you will need to do, and the smarter you will need to get at management.

Do you have examples or feedback?
If you have any questions or feedback on the topic covered, please share in the comments below.

September 30, 2020
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September 26, 2020
Time management tips to manage work productively
While being busy is a good thing, it’s essential to focus on prioritising your valuable time. Everyone gets 24 hours in the day to work with – no more and no less. Why is it that a few people are able to accomplish so much more than the rest? What time management tips or tricks do they use that you don’t?
There are days when we have to push ourselves and respond to work pressures. But if you find yourself feeling constantly stressed at work, something needs to change. Unfortunately, most of us are ‘too busy being busy’. But what are you busy with? Is it adding value to your day?
In general, people who manage their time effectively are less stressed, more productive, and have more leisure compared to those that don’t. So what camp do you fall in?
Symptoms of poor time Management
Many managers and team leaders feel productive if they are rushing to meetings and appointments all day long. However, this is far from the truth. At its core, time-management needs effectiveness far more than efficiency. Effectiveness is doing the right tasks within the time, while efficiency involves getting a lot of tasks done within the time.
If the situations described below sound familiar to you, it may indicate that you need to work on your time management skills and techniques:
> You always seem to be rushing to complete tasks.
> Feelings of impatience, anxiety, or stress are common.
> You are consistently late for meetings and appointments.
>It feels as if you have been busy all day but haven’t accomplished much.
> You have no time for family, friends, physical exercise or leisure.

Why is it important to manage time more effectively?
Poor time management can impact a workplace in several ways. It adds to employee stress, demotivates, and can lead to burn-out. Stressed employees are more likely to performance poorly, reducing overall productivity.
Employees are obliged to work longer hours, and the organisation will end up spending much more on overtime compensation. Missed deadlines and delayed work will affect customer relationships and the company image.

Tips to working smarter
How do you maximise your day without running yourself into the ground? Here are a our top time management tips:

1. Eat the frog first
Mark Twain, the famous writer, said that if you eat the frog first, the rest of the day will be simpler to deal with. Simply put, start with tackling complex tasks first.
When you get into the office, identify the most challenging task first (before your phone and inbox start going haywire). The hardest-first technique prevents us from stacking the most difficult task for the end of the day.

2. Set clear, defined goals
Poorly defined goals, or worse, non-existent goals, keep our noses to the grindstone all day long without resulting in achievement. While setting goals, keep in mind the 80/20 principle which suggests that 80% of outcomes are achieved through 20% of work. Prioritise your time wisely.

3. Leverage the power of focus: Quality over quantity
Multitasking can be best described as a debatable talent. Unfortunately, modern technology allows us to do ten different things simultaneously. We often find ourselves looking at phone messages, keeping up with world news, laughing at forwarded jokes and trying to complete work at the same time.
The truth is, the more you concentrate, the sooner you can complete a task. Take a ten or fifteen-minute break every few hours so you can unwind and relax. Avoid switching back and forth between tasks. The human mind is capable of focusing only on one thing at any given time. This is true even for women!

4. Saying ‘No’ is okay
Learning how to say ‘no’ is the most important time management skill you’ll ever learn.
Most of us have been conditioned to think that the word ‘no’ is not a nice thing to say to others. As a result, we still feel guilty when we refuse to oblige with a request. Say ‘no’ in a polite but assertive and non-ambiguous manner that leaves no room for negotiation.
Some distinct disadvantages of multi-tasking include:
> Difficulty in focusing attention, memory loss due to lack of attention.
> Poor productivity as the brain wastes time shifting gears as it adjusts to different tasks.
> Reduction in work quality due to lack of concentration.
> Distractions: If you find yourself reaching out for your mobile phone every two minutes, please keep it on silent mode and place the device out of reach.

5. Struggling with unproductive meetings?
Meetings that have no clear purpose, or consistently run late, waste everyone’s time. Check out our article on tips for running more effective meetings. And if you don’t need to be there, refer to number 4, politely say no!
6. Additional Tips to Manage Your Time Effectively
The following suggestions can help prevent you from entering into a state of pandemonium:
> Wake up earlier and give yourself more hours in the day.
> Discover your ‘high productivity time slots’; for some, this may be mornings, while for others, it may be the later in the day.
> Take small, frequent breaks.
> Use time-tracking software to help you manage your time better
> Delegate work whenever necessary.

Final Thoughts
While drive, focus and hard work are crucial ingredients for success, efficient time management plays a key role in achieving an ideal work-life balance.
The secret to getting more out of your day depends on your ability to manage your time more efficiently. If you’re constantly running against the clock, it is impossible to perform at your best. Learning basic time management skills can do wonders in helping you achieve your goals. Working smarter not harder makes a lot more sense in this context. We hope our time management tips help you get some of your life back!
September 18, 2020