Friday, November 22, 2013

Tough or Nice?

Here is a very interesting and short article from the Harvard Business Review Blog, "The Best Leaders Are Both Tough and Nice," by Kevin Evers.  The answer is in the title, but read the article for some interesting data to support it.

I struggle with the tough versus nice challenge.  I want people to like me, which pushes me toward nice.  But I worry if I am not tough enough, I'll be a pushover, and I won't get the best from people.  It turns out that, like most things, balance is the key.  You need some of both to be a success as a leader.

When I think about bosses I have had, I find that I agree with the article, too.  Bosses that are too nice risk people not respecting them or not pulling their full load.  Bosses that are too tough don't motivate me to do my best.  Again, balance is key.

Different strategies work with different people and in different circumstances.  Sometimes you want to start off tough and then lighten up, and sometimes you start nice and toughen up.  With some people you can be nice most of the time, and with others you have to stay tough more of the time.  Learning what works with which people is one of the challenges of leadership.

If you are a leader, be sure you keep both niceness and toughness in your tool kit.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Don't Let Your Time Get Away From You

Do you ever come to the end of your day and wonder what you have accomplished?  If so, it's likely you spent a lot of time responding to email.  Now I love email, so don't expect one of those rants about how we would get so much more done if we didn't have to respond to email.  When I was starting my career, the bulk of communications within an office was still done with paper memos.  What do you think is faster, firing off an email message, or rolling a piece of paper into a typewriter, typing out the text, taking the paper to a copier, placing the copies into individual mailboxes, and then waiting for people to actually get back to you?  Give me email any day.

Like all good things, email has good and bad qualities.  We had much less spam back in the paper memo days.  People had fewer expectations about getting an immediate response to a memo.  ASAP meant hours or days, not seconds or minutes. 

In this time of fast communications and even faster responses, it's important to build in time to think and to focus on what's important.  The problem with email is that the important stuff comes interspersed with the unimportant.  It is much easier to get distracted.

Peter Bregman wrote, "An 18-Minute Plan for Managing Your Day," in the Harvard Business Review Blog.  Read his article to see how his plan works.  Like most plans, though, it involves planning your day ahead of time, using defensive calendaring to set aside time for high-intensity work, and reviewing what you have done.

Don't let your tasks control you.  Take control of your time and practice.  You can get better at this.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Speaking in Public

I enjoyed reading this article, "Captivate Your Listeners with these Speaking Tips."  The author is Rita J. King from Science House.

Many people are afraid, some deathly afraid, of speaking in public.  But like many human skills, you can learn to do it and get better at it over time.  If you want to be a leader, it's essential to be able to speak (and write) about your ideas. 

During our leadership training from MOR Associates, we learned about "elevator speeches."  An elevator speech is short, just taking the amount of time that an elevator ride requires.  This is a great way to start.  Develop an elevator speech about an issue you feel passionate about.  Practice it in front of a mirror first, then with someone you trust.  The more times you give it, the smoother you'll get.  See if you can influence others to make a positive change with your elevator speech.

One of our staff members recently joined Toastmasters, because he saw it as a good way to develop his speaking skills.  What a terrific idea.  Others I have known have attended training in the Art of Hosting.  There are many ways to develop your speaking skills, and good speaking is just one of the important tools of a leader.  Give something new a try today.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Resilience

Every Tuesday, Jim Bruce from MOR Associates sends out a synopsis of an article he thinks is interesting for leaders.  This week's article is "Surprises Are the New Normal;  Resilience Is the New Skill," by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor at the Harvard Business School.  The article appears in the Harvard Business Review Blog Network.

This article really made my day and my week.  I've been feeling buffeted by change and challenges lately and wondering what to do about it.  Moreover, I've been having a hard time forgiving myself for my mistakes.  According to Professor Kanter,
"... the real skill is the resilience to climb out of the hole and bounce back."
According to Kantor, resilience is built on the cornerstones of confidence, which are:
  • accountability (taking responsibility and showing remorse)
  • collaboration (supporting others in reaching a common goal)
  • initiative (focusing on positive steps and improvements)
Kanter also refers to her book, "Confidence:  How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End."  I intend to buy this soon.  It's also important to note that resilience comes from values and character, not from arrogance and narcissism.  If you are feeling short on resilience, be sure to read this article.