By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

When it comes to leadership effectiveness, information is power. So gathering all the facts about how you’re doing as a leader — and then using that information to your advantage — is key to your success. Be proactive in determining what’s working and what’s not. Seek feedback from co-workers and colleagues. Look for common themes that improve your understanding about how you’re really performing and managing. The fact-finding mission will pay off, unlocking an otherwise hidden opportunity to move your career ahead.

No matter how good you feel about your leadership, it’s still critical to examine your own performance and style periodically. Shift your attention from others to yourself for a change, making YOU the focus. And when you do it, keep these few points in mind:

1. Avoid the “I am who I am” mentality. This is that classic, “nothing’s gonna change” mindset that you’ve probably seen with mediocre leaders. In a professional environment, it’s stifling, sometimes toxic and a common career derailer. Meanwhile, great leaders embrace challenging strategies that deliver growth and improvement. They revel in becoming more effective in whatever they’re doing, saying or being. To join those ranks, you must embrace the “be open to change” mindset, move out of your comfort zone, and start taking steps to sharpen your leadership potential.

2. Remember, facts are friendly but sometimes painful, too. I remember the first time I asked for feedback from my direct reports. My division was number-one in the company, and it seemed like a good time to get some glowing feedback from my direct reports. But to my shock, it wasn’t so flattering. I recall sitting at my desk, feeling hurt, angry and sad. But after I processed a whole range of emotions, I realized they were right. The criticism was legitimate. I needed to change and committed to doing so. The lesson? Always take the good with the bad, and realize all feedback is a gift. Learn and grow from it, and you’ll become a better leader.

3. Keep your confidence about you. In assessing your leadership effectiveness, be smart about how and when you gather the information. Do it too little, and people think you’re stuck in that “I am who I am” mindset mentioned above. Do it too much, and folks will peg you as insecure, unstable or weak. The key is to be strategic about how you conduct your fact-finding mission. Make it a formal, rather than random, part of your management program. For example, after giving a seminar, provide an anonymous survey as a part of routine follow up. Avoid the temptation to go running around after the event, asking everyone how you did. Incorporate that same strategy into how you manage feedback with your direct reports or clients. Carefully time when and how you collect the data, and don’t bombard people with personal queries. It sends a message that you doubt your potential and need a constant pat on the back.

What are some good tips to help leaders assess their effectiveness?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

As a company leader, you know that one of the keys to business success is investing in your employees. It’s important to support your direct reports with coaching, training and ongoing education — whatever it takes to enable and inspire them. But how often do you take the time to improve your professional acumen? Just as with your employees, the more you put in to develop yourself, the more return you’ll get from your investment. So take responsibility for your professional growth, pledging to focus on yourself for a change and then:

1. Create a self-development plan with actions and dates that establish accountability. The very best bosses I’ve worked for were self-driven, lifelong learners who were always putting their goals down on paper and assigning a timeline with action steps for accomplishing those goals. They remained personally accountable to whatever they were pushing themselves to learn, do or achieve. And having that plan on paper as opposed to just in your head was critical. As such, their ideas became less a dream and more a reality because they now had a carefully defined roadmap with action steps for implementation and a timeline for accountability. What I learned from these successful bosses is that having, implementing and sticking to that written plan boosts the odds of its success.

2. Work with a trusted, honest mentor. And you can’t just pick any ‘ole buddy or colleague you admire. Start by choosing someone who is an expert in whatever you’re trying to accomplish, learn or understand. This person needs to have “been there, done that,” and have done it well! Also, pick a mentor with good coaching skills — someone who will patiently guide you in decision-making, but not tell you what to do. You’ll want a mentor who is a straight shooter, always giving you the truth about your strengths and weaknesses. And remember, a mentor should always keep what you’re working on confidential unless you’ve given that person permission to share information about the experience with someone else. Your secrets must be safe with your mentor.

3. Increase your expertise by engaging in relevant, continual learning opportunities. As if you have space on your calendar to sign up for classes, learn some new skills, or go to that annual conference, right? Well, no more excuses — time to make room for your professional development. But don’t worry… you can and should pace yourself to avoid burnout. Just like strength training at the gym, start off easy (but do get out of your comfort zone) to better your professional development. Perhaps commit to reading one chapter of a business book every night before bed. Maybe download an app that delivers business news to your Smartphone and scan the info while drinking your morning cup of coffee. Or, attend the local chamber’s hour-long business seminars simply once a month. Good learning opportunities of all kinds and sizes are everywhere. Invest in yourself in ways big and small, and you’ll soon net noticeable rewards.

Do you have a trusted mentor?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

There’s nothing worse than long, unproductive meetings. Sitting through them feels like you’re dying a slow death. And there are so many better things you could be doing with your day! But is it possible to really slash meeting times and boost productivity? Sure it is — if you institute and, importantly, stick to a few “ground rules” such as “no sidebars,” “turn off electronics” and “no pontificating.” You can also trim time by allocating specific time for each agenda and then assigning others key meeting roles (i.e., timekeeper, facilitator). Don’t let the next meeting be your grim reaper! Take steps today to make that next meeting shorter, stronger and more effective.

To expand on this a bit, I’ve written up some “Rules of Engagement” for shorter, more successful meetings. If the meetings you run don’t have similar guidelines, hand these out and give ‘em a try at your next opportunity. (Oh, and then don’t forget to enforce them!)

1. Turn off outside electronics. Harsh as it may sound, cell phones, smart phones, iPads, laptops and other such electronic devices need to be “in the off position.” We may not be taking off for a landing, but everyone at this meeting needs to give their full attention to the subject at hand and whomever is speaking. Laptops, in particular, create a barrier between the person sitting behind them and everyone else in the room. Turn ‘em off and put them away.

2. No sidebars. It’s downright rude when people start talking among themselves when someone else has the floor. As tempting as it may be, just don’t do it. Resist the urge to have a one to one with the people next to you.

3. Better your body language. Use your body to be more present, involved and receptive to whatever is being presented at the meeting. Watch out for slouching, fidgeting and poor or possibly offensive eye contact or gestures. Drop any hidden defenses, opening your arms if they’re crossed and positioning your head, heart and feet more toward the speaker. Nod with understanding, not just agreement.

4. Watch what you say, avoiding pontification, posturing and verbose verbal communication. There’s nothing worse or more damaging to a meeting’s success than an opinionated speaker who talks too much. True, everyone is entitled to an opinion and opinions should and will be heard, but avoid going overboard or you’ll bore (if you don’t outright offend) everyone in the room. Speak when you’ve got something productive to contribute. Save lengthy stories for the water cooler. Stop yourself short of saying anything (particularly personal or political) you might later regret.

5. Respect the agenda timeline. And along with that, respect people’s participation in light of a (hopefully) shorter timeline for the meetings. If you’ve had the floor for a couple of minutes, the time-keeper has given the five-minute warning, and three more people wish to speak, wrap it up ASAP.

What are good ground rules to conduct effective meetings?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

Take a hard look at where you are spending your time each day. Review the Pareto Principle from the MAP workshop which talks about focusing on the vital few and ignoring or delegating the trivial many. As you review your work activities ask yourself if those activities are contributing to your vital few. It is not uncommon for bosses to discover they are doing the work that belongs to their direct reports. Delegate activities to the right people and stay focused on what is important. Put a plan in place to better manage your time and resources and keep the vital few the #1 priority.

Managing better starts with you and requires managing what you do more efficiently. Try logging and reviewing your activities and work. Are they contributing to your “vital few”? If not, commit to creating a plan that prioritizes those vital few, taking time, resources and people into consideration. At the very least, your plan should include the following goals, as highlighted by MAP coach Steve Behunin in one of our professional webinars.

• Streamline activities and discontinue many tasks, delegate to others more and/or train when necessary
• Identify and cut out time wasters and robbers
• Amend, tailor and simplify unnecessarily complex procedures
• Restructure cumbersome daily routines, quit nonproductive work habits
• Train yourself if you truly don’t know how to do something the fastest, most sensible way

Now, achieving these broader goals also includes strategic action steps. For example, if you’re currently starring in that classic, do-it-all, always-saving-the-day “Superhero” role, start shedding that big, emblazoned “S” by writing up a daily roadmap for each day, sticking firmly to its timeframes, responsibilities and boundaries. (It’s still Ok to build in a couple hours every day/week when you can tackle unforeseen business crises – but make that part of your plan!) You might also have to institute greater accountability among your reports with problems, requiring them to bring more solutions to the table. And if meetings are your big time-sucker, develop tricks to nix nonproductive tendencies, better regulating time and energy there.

As a leader, you can’t expect your direct reports to focus on the vital few if you’re not doing so yourself. Be that critical catalyst for the very change you want transforming your culture and driving goal achievement. Show others how they should treat their time, resources and other staff members, and soon, everyone will be spending their precious minutes more wisely, keeping the vital few in the forefront of all they do. For these efforts, everyone — including you — will reap big rewards! Don’t be shocked if you find yourself in a sort of newfound “management zen,” where you’re more relaxed, at peace and yet surprisingly productive.

What are some time wasters you’d want to eliminate?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

Great leaders tell the truth. And they don’t just talk about the “good stuff.” They tell the truth about the status of your business and the results, even if the truth is painful. After all there is no need to hide what most of your employees already know. Openly discuss failed efforts and leverage these events as future learning opportunities. Candor is critical to creating a healthy work environment. It builds and sustains your credibility, while giving others opportunities to learn, change and succeed.

Why do so many leaders tend to sugarcoat or downright lie about how business is going or how their employees are performing? Fear. And sometimes ignorance. They’re afraid they’re going to come across as weak. And they often simply don’t understand or know how to “speak the truth” to staff or employees without appearing negative, harsh or unfair.

Leaders of all kinds – including great ones – make mistakes. But strong leaders will own and admit their mistakes, and they’re not afraid to give people “the honest facts,” whatever they may be. They’re also great coaches, meaning they provide non-emotional feedback that’s candid, fact-based and always tied to the person and/or the company’s goals. Remember, feedback doesn’t need to be confrontational to be effective.

Employees appreciate knowing the truth. They want to be held accountable for what and how they’re doing, and they respect bosses and leaders who are consistently straightforward and honest with them. Think of a time in your past that you thought you were doing a bang-up job, your manager complimented your work and then later criticized your work either to other staff members, in an annual performance review or, worse, in a company-wide meeting. Most likely, if you’d known the truth when it mattered most, you would have acted quickly to take corrective action and do better. Instead, you couldn’t easily recover – if at all. And you likely felt betrayed and dismayed at the poor professionalism demonstrated by your manager at the time. If only you’d known the truth!

Whenever you’re conflicted about whether or not to be upfront with an employee or to deliver honest, albeit challenging communications with those you manage, put yourself in their shoes. Your employees can’t achieve their goals unless they have an idea of how they’re truly performing and how their performance is affecting the company at large. Being honest about both individual and company performance creates transparency, letting everyone know where you stand and the status of the company’s health. That sets the stage for a candid workplace culture, which is the cornerstone to an accountable, productive workforce.

Why do you think some leaders avoid telling the truth?

Caught up in business challenges, do you often find yourself slipping into the trap of putting your personal life on the back burner instead of focusing on family first, job second? It’s a common problem in business today where leaders are asked to do more with less to get the job done. The fundamental resource that you have for getting control over your own life is yourself. Set a goal to become a time management expert by a specific date and support this goal through relevant resources that include books and workshops. Achieve that critical life-work balance and then transcend into a stronger, happier, more productive person.

Are you more invested in your job than your personal relationships? It’s understandable. You’re likely super passionate about the organization and its people, and committed to driving success for countless reasons. But if you don’t put family first in life, you’re more likely to eventually have serious personal problems, possibly costing you not only serious heartache, but maybe your company or career. Ironically, one main reason so many of us slave away, putting in 12 hour days, six days a week, is to support our families – whom we sadly, rarely see. This is downright wrong and twisted, and committing this leadership sin sends a message to others that work is more important than family, friends – or your relationships in life. It’s simply not – at least for most of us.

How can you transform your time management to put the family first, job second?

• Be Proactive About Personal Planning. Take your calendar and proactively mark down what’s happening at home or with your personal life first. Block out the time you really need to make those commitments happen, whether it’s your son’s baseball games, a best friend’s performance, or your spouse’s birthday weekend. Then plan work obligations around those personal commitments, so what’s truly important in life remains a priority.
• Delegate More. One of our most successful clients, Dennis Bishop of WPX Delivery Solutions, was a true perfectionist when he first hired MAP. He still want things done right, but he’s more recently “perfected” his accountability leadership so he can step away from the office for a day, knowing everything will run just fine. Even better, after putting such MAP practices in place, he took more vacations in those past three years than he ever took in the 10 years prior to MAP’s coaching. Delegation and “letting go” of some control helped him achieve that goal and some well deserved freedom.
• Unplug From Work. Turn off the computer when it’s family time, stop obsessing with your SmartPhone when it’s date night, and temporarily disconnect from that endless job to reconnect with those you cherish. No excuses or buts… just do it and sin no more!

Are you guilty of putting work before family?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

In our cost-conscious society, companies are vying for consumer/client dollars like never before. No doubt, differentiating your business through certain products or services helps with your competitive edge. But it probably isn’t enough.

What you need to succeed are loyal customers/clients — that golden 20% that drives 80% of your business’ profitability.

How do you get loyal customers?

Do right by your relationships with them, and you’ll build that critical, core following, which will ultimately net big returns. Specifically, don’t just address problems or provide rewards that YOU believe customers/clients want and deserve, but do the homework to determine their true wants and needs. Consistently providing this demonstrates the humanity behind your brand.

“Research from Bain and Company shows that 80% of company executives believe their company delivers outstanding value and a superior customer experience, but only a staggering 8% of their customers agree with them,” says Allan Hauptfeld, president of Vantage Research + Consulting, Inc. “This major disconnect is very telling, indicating how little many executives understand about what clients are really thinking, feeling – and talking about. Bottom line, this is a relationship problem that makes customer satisfaction difficult to achieve and customer loyalty almost impossible to secure in any sustainable fashion.”

“What’s more, when it comes to customer satisfaction vs. customer loyalty, there’s a big, often misunderstood difference between the two,” Hauptfeld says. Customer satisfaction is about successfully providing what’s rational and expected, e.g., on-time service, accurate orders, products that work, clean bathrooms, etc. Meanwhile, customer loyalty develops when you exceed expectations, perhaps anticipating and catering to customers’ needs or wants, thus creating solutions, not to mention opportunities to make people genuinely happy and impressed. Interestingly, stamping reward cards or giving discounts to those flashing their loyalty cards does not generate “the love.” This loyalty comes from genuine relationships — those that are carefully cultivated between the customers/clients and you.

“This starts and ends by getting service with a sincere smile, or can even mean someone going the extra mile to provide some service, product or answer without it coming across as extraordinary,” Hauptfeld says. “It’s about making life better or more meaningful in some intangible way. Customer loyalty is emotional, speaking to the intrinsic value your brand provides.”

Why does this loyalty matter?

It’s far less expensive to retain loyal customers than to generate new ones, according to studies from both Bain and Company and E-Marketer. And while it’s true that happy customers don’t talk as much as unhappy customers, they DO talk about their positive experiences with others, helping you effortlessly gain new, more qualified leads. (Their friends or associates have already “pre-sold” them!) The compound benefits should result in a more stable, if not ever-improving, customer/client base. And in our cost-conscious world, a strategy like that – which keeps profits booming and business from busting – is certainly one worth following.

Does your business align to the 80/20 rule of business profitability?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

Ever catch yourself formulating a response before someone is finished talking? People have a tendency to “hear out” others half-heartedly, but great leaders are usually highly skilled at active listening. In fact, it’s one of the building blocks to excellent communication — and one that takes practice. You have to give people time to finish speaking, pay attention to body language, and never interrupt. Then, acknowledge and replay what you hear using the communication loop model from MAP’s 2.5-Day Program. If someone disagrees with you, clarify specifically what part of the message they disagree with and why. Active listening is a powerful leadership trait for business leaders who want to communicate effectively with their direct reports and employees.

Interestingly, a lot of leaders think they are already experts at active listening… until they do an exercise that demonstrates otherwise, according to Steve Behunin, a member of MAP’s management coaching team. Whenever Behunin puts on MAP’s 2.5-Day Program, he likes to give attendees a “little test.” Everyone gets some basic, verbal instructions, which they must then “play back” to demonstrate they were listening. And that’s when they learn that active listening is much more complicated than cleaning out your ears with a Q-tip!

“No one gets it right, and they’re always pretty shocked to learn how far off they are,” he says. “It’s simply because they haven’t trained their mind and ears to practice this technique.”

If people aren’t thinking of their response as they’re “listening,” then they are often misinterpreting the information in a way that reflects their thoughts and beliefs. So that’s why the playback piece is critical in the communication loop. It creates clarity and reveals potential misunderstandings, which, if left as such, usually cause more serious problems down the road.

Here’s another reason to put active listening into practice. When you replay someone else’s words, it validates and demonstrates a very basic level of respect for that person’s contribution to whatever is at topic. You don’t have to like or agree with what they say. But active listening often helps to diffuse emotions and focus on facts. It also discloses to others that you communicate with professionalism, accuracy and integrity. And that, my friends, will help you earn respect — something every great leader can appreciate at the end of the day.

Active listening isn’t easy, mainly because poor listening skills are bad habits. Maybe it’s how you were raised or part of your “culture.” But in a business setting, using poor listening skills can put you and your company at a serious disadvantage. Fortunately, active listening is one good habit that can be practiced and perfected. Do this and, pretty soon, you’ll be catching yourself before you fall into the familiar, poor-listening trap. Discipline is the key, which should become easier and more worthwhile once you personally experience the benefits of stronger, more effective communication.

The following list is an abbreviated version of Steve Behunin’s top tips for effective listening.

To Improve Your Active Listening Skills:

1.    Stay focused on what’s being said
2.    Send non-verbal affirmations to the speaker
3.    Don’t get to the end of a sentence before the speaker (i.e., finish his/her sentences)
4.    Avoid getting defensive
5.    Improve retention – practice paraphrasing
6.    Listen with the “Whole You”
7.    Be alert to your prejudices
8.    Avoid negative or disruptive mannerisms
9.    Ask for more information
10. Determine what the ‘central theme’ means to/for you

Can you read other people’s body language?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. But when it comes to leadership, “tough” typically translates to “disciplined,” as in staying the course, even when the waters get inevitably rocky in the implementation stage of any idea, strategy or goal.

No surprise, a recent, random MAP survey found that:

70% of CEOs felt that their strategies were the right ones, but only 10% of those CEOs believed the strategies were being implemented correctly.

Why?

Challenged with change, they’re simply backing down or shifting directions when things get hard.

The moral: Become a Disciple of Discipline. Be tough but, importantly, stay true to the course, and your goals can eventually be achieved.

Lee Froschheiser of MAP’s senior consulting team, has personally coached clients on how to stay the course. What’s tricky is that leaders commonly set goals but do so in too many directions, he says. It’s then hard for them to execute any one strategy well because they’re unfocused, spread too thin, or just too busy jumping from strategy to strategy in the hopes that some new “flavor of the month” will give them results.

“They’re looking for the ‘silver bullet,’ but what they need is the courage and conviction to stay disciplined in executing some core fundamentals,” he says. “This means holding the course throughout four phases that a company must experience to achieve sustainable success.”

As referenced in his article, “Business Sustainability: The Strategies to Achieve, the Leadership that Makes It Happen” the Four Phases include:

1. The “How” Phase - When resistance peaks because everyone is focused on new implementation and the mechanics of doing the requested changes, procedures, policies or responsibilities without seeing immediate results. Strategies often fail in this phase because people get frustrated, lack project management skills, and struggle with focus, among other reasons.

2. The “Why” Phase - Where everyone suddenly experiences enlightenment, finally tasting the fruits of their labor or experiencing the benefits of whatever is being executed. It’s the big, nearly revolutionary “Ah-ha!” moment in the organization, and employees are surprised and pleased to finally “see” results and rewards.

3. The “Who” Phase - When the strategy has become ingrained or internalized within workplace culture. Everyone is passionate, motivated and accountable because now they deeply understand how their work relates to the greater good of both the company and themselves. Teamwork runs smoothly.

4. The “External” Phase - When you’re able to apply fundamental strategies to other business partners, vendors, etc., and these tactics actually work. Outsiders experience and recognize the positive results as part of your “brand,” particularly as these strategies are applied successfully to them.

While these phases are key, remember: At the core of these phases and what really steers positive, productive outcomes is a Disciple of Discipline. A leader who stays the course and is committed to fundamental business practices is critical to moving an organization through these four phases — and managing it all with purposeful grace.

What is the main reason why company strategies fail?

By John Manning, General Manager, MAP

The most common reason why organizations fail at implementing new ideas is because they’re simply not capable of successfully executing them. And it doesn’t matter how super the idea is — whenever any new concept or strategy is put on the table, it’s critical to assess the gap between its good intent and your organization’s core ability to implement and execute it. Be rigorous in your assessment, considering the time, money, resources and culture needed for successful execution. Follow this disciplined approach, and it will allow you to say “no” to good ideas you cannot do well and focus more on those you can.

Company leaders get caught up in this conundrum all the time. If they are not the ones always coming up with new ideas, they’re likely getting fresh thoughts and suggestions regularly from the staff they’ve hired. And that makes sense because they’ve probably purposefully hired talented employees who are not just skilled workers but also powerful thinkers, visionaries or “idea people.” While it’s important to have such folks on your staff, bosses beware! Sometimes you need another good idea like you need a bullet in your head… particularly if your organization is truly not able to execute it successfully.

The trick is to keep the ideas flowing while instituting a methodology for determining whether or not your company is equipped and able to execute the ideas.

One way to do that is with the following, simple checklist that asks four, useful questions.

1. ___ Do you have the right people with the right talent(s) to execute this strategy?
2. ___ Do the right people have the time to execute this strategy?
3. ___ Do you have the funding/money or other resources required to execute this strategy?
4. ___ Does this idea or strategy clearly align with your company’s mission? Is it innate to your
   organization’s culture, vision and goals?

How did you fare? If you put a check next to each of these following questions, you’ve got great odds for success. If not, then you’ve got to practice relentless discipline and “just say no” to the idea, no matter how tempting it may be or from whom it comes.

Sometimes using this checklist can be challenging, even for the most progressive, productive companies on the planet. But take MAP, for instance — our core mission is to bring discipline, accountability and execution to companies and high performing leaders. We initiate that through our 2.5 day — MAP Program and follow that up with personalized coaching and our Vital Factors® system for management. For us, this checklist is a great way to keep our ideas in check with our abilities so as not to negatively impact the productivity and morale of our company.

Feel free to use this checklist as a decision-making tool. Similar to the symbolic Hedgehog Concept, outlined in Jim Collins’ “Good to Great,” this helps in recognizing a potential gap between a winning idea and, importantly, your organization’s ability to see it through to the finish line.

What do you think is the #1 reason companies or their leaders fail to execute great ideas?