Leadership Lessons from Tiger Woods

First let me say, my heart is very sadden by the public display of the dismantling of a public image and there in is the reason why I decided to write this post.  There are many lessons  here for professional success, professional credibility and leadership and management success. The grace of it?….we are learning from someone’s mistake, other than our own. I invite the readers of this post to do so humbly.

Usually I don’t use this blog to discuss sensationlized news, yet I felt compelled to comment on this particular occurrence and even more so after reading a thought-filled blog post that I found very instructive.  You can read the entire post from the other blog, Orin Woodward Leadership Team,  provided at the end of this post.  What I want to do is submit my thoughts in light of that post.

My Thoughts:

One of the guiding themes of my practice and any coaching and training I do is leading, managing, living from the inside out.  Who we are on the inside dictates the kind of person we’ll be on the outside. This truth proves itself out, time and time again.

That’s why it’s so important to work on our insides more than any other area.  There are many managers and leaders who want to fix the people around them rather than consider, “what about me has allowed these circumstances to occur.”

I do carry the belief that people of great talent, those in high levels of leadership and influence need to be especially attentive to what’s going on on the inside and have someone in their life they deeply trust to help them effectively deal with their own inner activity no matter how unpleasant it might be.

To stay grounded and truthful with the good and the bad about ourselves is essential to a successful life and complete health.

It’s very common to talk to a leader of an organization and discover they feel isolated and that there is no one in their life that they can talk with about deeply intimate issues, that in some cases they are embarrassed about.

Perhaps that was true in Tiger’s case.  Perhaps he has struggled with sexual addiction (if this is true) from an early age or it surfaced after his father’s death to fill a emotional hole left with his Dad’s profound absence.  These are all assumptions of course.

What is not…we all need to continually practice internal honesty as the first source of living a meaningful, productive, successful life. How we do that will be reflected in every activity and relationship we have in every context.

This post serves as my summary of the following points from the post referenced above…truly profound and worth a read.

Key Points:

I. Leaders need to build their lives upon the solid foundation of good character and morals, not on gifts and abilities.

II. Leaders must understand that having great career success does not cause us to experience or feel internal significance and satisfaction

III. Leaders need to develop good coping skills so they can courageously confront reality instead of escaping from it.

IV. Leaders must not feed an ego-driven lifestyle.

VI. Leaders must understand that money, material possessions and a beautiful spouse cannot fill the vast empty space of an unhealthy emotional soul.

VII. Leaders need to understand the underlining motivation behind what drives them.

VIII. Leaders often equate performance with acceptance.

Eight Lessons Leaders Can Learn from Tiger Wood’s Life

Please pass on to colleagues and friends.  To our personal and professional success! JoAnn

A Success Quote equals Bite-size Coaching

Ever considered it that way? This is cool management insight!

I love quotes!  I have since I was young. I would collect them, make collages of them, and put them on hand made cards for my friends.  Whether it’s a success saying or a success quotation – it’s a bite-size form of coaching. It’s powerful information and inspiration in a bite.

Here’s a Management Success Tip: Include quotes in your team culture.

Why? Consider what quotes do…

1. Inspire = motivate

2. Direct

3. Instruct

4. Feed our spirit

5. Stimulate our thinking

…just to name a few and I’m sure you can think of more.

How powerful is it to have just a few words carry so much weight and do so much good! And you know the funny thing?…a new social media phenomena creates a context for that to regularly occur – Twitter.

I am going to be sharing my favorite quotes there, so if you’re not following me…do so!  I promise I will not bother you with my personal, inane activities.  What I will do is pass on quotes and information that are worth your time and support you in developing the quality life you desire to have.  Twitter Web Site

To start, here are a few of my favorites and how they impact me:

Category: Wise & Instructive

Humphrey Bogart once said: “Enjoy the moments, kid, because in the end they add up to a life.”

Coaching point: Live in the moment.  Don’t waste your time dwelling on the past or too much anticipating the future.  Make the most of now…each now adds up to a life.

Category: Inspirational

“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot…and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s precisely why I succeed.” Michael Jordan, American Basketball Player

Coaching point: go after it, plan on loosing a lot to be a winner.

Category: Motivational

“Go big or go home.” Donald Trump

Coaching point: give it all ya got!

These 3 hit me in so many ways….all in just a few words.  Join me on Twitter for a regular does of these Power Qutoes!

Access Twitter Here

Remember the success tip...Use quotes in your team culture and to coach yourself

To your success!  JoAnn

A Key to Performance Success – Do This Unique Assessment

As the end of the year approaches, (which is hard to believe), it’s a ritual of many to take stock of the year that’s gone by. By the way if you don’t do that, that’s personal and professional success tip #1 – make it a habit to do an in depth assessment of how your year has gone.

Related to performance success, this is essential and I want to recommend a method that is a twist on the more traditional ways of approaching this.

To follow is a link to an assessment tool called – Annual Portfolio Evaluation.  What is unique about this assessment approach is the human part of the equation commonly known as our strengths and weaknesses is now reframed as an ASSEST OR LIABILITY, which is the language used on a company balance sheet and other company resources.

I think that this is the key advantage to using this approach.  You and those you use this with can feel a greater sense of responsibility to what you can contribute, in essence the value you and members of your team bring to an organization.  Framing it this way vs. “strength and weakness,” adds a whole new dimension to working in the context of human resource. In fact many use the word human capital vs. human resource.

This also can be used in developing a Personal Development Plan or integrating the information into any development program currently being used in any organization.

Conversely, there is something called a “liability.”  A liability is explained in Websters a follows:
3 : one that acts as a disadvantage : drawback.

This is a useful way of helping somone see that what would otherwise be considered a weakness is actually a cost.  The message is stronger – that behavior or lack of skill is costing you and the company.  There is a cost. As somone who runs my own firm, I am keenly aware of what weaknesses I have and how they tangibly translate into costing me money. Each employee needs to constructively feel that on some level.

This message and experience is much stronger than, “you’ve got a weakness.”

I recommend you download the free assessment sheet above and give it a whirl.  Got any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact me at joann@joanncorley.com

To your success! JoAnn

Management Success – Be A Coach

Are you a coach? If you, as a manager or supervisor, have not integrated this skill into your toolkit it’s time and essential to your management success and overall professional success!

Now before you go feeling overwhelmed, consider coaching someone to be initially a shift in thinking.  Coaching is really about the way you relate to someone in a strategic way.  It means that discussions are more purposeful and targeted.

There has been much written about blocks to manager allow themselves to “take on coaching” in their professional development.  That view makes it appear and feel like a burden.

For now, let’s start here with this high-impact principle: Coaching is not necessarily something you do, but who you are.

So in the context of let’s say adding coaching to your regular management practices it can be seen simply as having regular conversations and being consistent:

Here’s a useful explanation from the management blog, The Performance Improvement:

“The manager who communicates regularly that he needs noticeably improved performance from his directs and then provides guidance on how to do so and then measures their progress is going to noticeably outperform the manager who does not.

Their point is that the regularity of these conversations and the focus on specific performance outcomes are what bring about change. When everyone makes coaching a “small, habitual routine,” it will become part of the culture of the organization. (and…these are my words…a part of the relating rapport between the manager and team member…and THIS is the most important piece to effective management).

I believe that at that point it doesn’t have to be called “coaching” anymore; it’s just something that happens as part of brief, weekly conversations between managers and their direct reports for the purpose of improving performance and achieving the organization’s strategic goals.”

This is a good explanation. There are other points made in that post that are worth a read, so here is the link: The Performance Improvement

Coaching Tip: Evaluate the functions of coaching in your current management style. What is your attitude around this function or style.  What could use improvement? Do your team members feel “coached?”  What are the qualities of an effective coach?

Are You Equipped for 21st Century Leadership?

There has been a study released conducted by the well respected Center for Creative Leadership, where this question was posed, “Do the leaders within your organization have the skills they need to be successful in the future?”  Several thousand leaders participated in the study, the results of which produced a list of key skills necessary for leadership success.

Here they are:

1. Leading people: directing and motivating people.
2. Strategic planning: translating vision into realistic business strategies, including long-term objectives.
3. Managing change: using effective strategies to facilitate organizational change.
4. Inspiring commitment: recognizing and rewarding employees’ achievements.
5. Resourcefulness: working effectively with top management.
6. Doing whatever it takes: persevering under adverse conditions.
7. Being a quick learner: quickly learning new technical or business knowledge

I would say no matter what level of leadership and management you hold, the ability to do these things well will make a difference in your leadership success.

This is pretty cut and dry and I wanted to post the list for your self assessment and reference.  YET, the other critical and essential question that must be asked in conjunction to this question is this: “Do your leaders have the qualities (different than skills) to effectively lead your organization now and into the future?”

Revealed in the study referenced above are answers to this question, though the question was not posed in my way.  What was recorded were other qualities leaders felt that they had that were valuable, but  considered not as important though necessary.

• building and mending relationships,
• compassion and sensitivity,
• cultural adaptability,
• respecting individual differences,
• composure,
• and self-awareness.

WHAT!…not as important…ghez!  This study again reveals the great disconnect between qualities, functional skill and effective leadership.  In fact the very qualities listed about are EXACTLY what is needed to execute the original list with some measure of success.

We’ve got to begin to see that business IS behavior and the qualities that drive it.  To expand on this, please download my expanded article The Behavior of Business. For those who do get it, you will set yourself apart and help lead your company to greater profitability no matter what role you have!

This source of this blog post can be found here.

Is Coaching the Next New Form of Employee Training?

Is Coaching the Next New Form of Employee and Management Training?

The Answer is YES! – Call It C.I.T. and… it’s a refreshing alternative to management training seminars.

In fact, more and more companies are putting corporate coaches on retainer.

You know corporate coaching has been around for a long time, mostly confined to the context of executive coaching, but now it comes in the form of time management coaching, communication coaching, performance coaching, leadership coaching, success coaching, and the ever popular personal life coaching. It can be whatever you need it to be and that’s the point!

In a climate that calls for smarter use of training dollars than ever before, companies are beginning to look not only to a more blended learning strategy that includes e-learning, webinars and tele-conferences, but also one-on-one delivery and help.

Coaching is a customized version of training, particularly when you couple it with targeted learning, which is the model I use. In fact I call it C.I.T. – customized individual training. It is a way to gain the highest level of return on investment for every training dollar spent.

Here’s a couple of questions and answers to expanded our understanding of coaching and its value.

What is Coaching?
What is a coaching relationship (short-term or long)?
A partnership
A committed alliance

What is a Coach?
An objective, key relationship who listens to what you are saying, helps you to set priorities and acts as a sort of “compass” to steer you on whatever course you choose; a facilitator of change.
Can be described as:
Sounding board
Advocate
Partner
Believer
Supporter
Informer
Resource

What Does Coaching Offer?
…a structured time and safe place to address specific situations

…working with goals by setting, planning and evaluating the process of meeting them and problem solving to name a few.

… A synergy that fuels your will, mind and heart to accomplish/ attain what you desire.

In the case of career coaching, it is working through a planning model to map out a desired career track. It’s a time to get honest and objective feedback from someone who does not have an “agenda” for you, but is committed to supporting your agenda.

Coaching additionally provides:
structure to the development process
insight
measured outcomes
accountability
encouragement, affirmation, support
clarity
focus
unleashing passion
discovering & breaking down mental barriers
unlocking potential
uncovering deep desires
sorting through thoughts feelings and emotions
goal creation
life plan design

Key Advantages
o    Specific and Directed Attention -you bring up the issues most critical to you at that moment.
o    Time Usage-this most valuable commodity is used exactly how you wish.
o    Scheduling Flexibility (the times are arranged at your convenience.  If a change needs to occur, it can be done without affecting a group or any sessions being missed.)
o    Sustained Momentum – through consistent contact and action you are able to keep your goals in front of you because there are so many other legitimate needs clamoring for your attention as well.
o    Results – through coaching goal setting and planned action is discussed thereby achieving measurable progress towards your desired results.
o    Current Information – I bring the skills of research and resourcefulness to this collaboration to compliment your efforts.
o    Confidence- planning & action breeds confidence and clarity.

Coaching Tip: Evaluate your learning strategy.  Ask yourself, “Am I learning efficiently and effectively?” “How is that impacting my return on investment for the training dollars I’m using?”

If this post has prompted you to want to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact me for a quick chat.  You can so so at: joann@joanncorley.com

Management Success Tip- Don’t Allow Yourself to Turn Into a Parent

Power up your management success with a great management concepts training resource….read on…

Every once in a while I’ll be posting lessons and coaching tips from my portable learning resource -  Management-in-Minutes, which has a generous library of lessons, articles, tools and tips that are short and high-impact…meant to help a busy professional build their knowledge base and competencies, while on the go.

Here’s a great one I wanted to share…Are You a Parent or a Manager? (and an important question to answer)

I bet there’s been a day or two when you have thought that or felt that way. When I conduct a management training workshop, sometimes I’ll ask, “How many feel like you left the kids back at the office.”…..many people raise their hand.

Here are two issues related to parenting that would be useful to be aware of, if you are a manager… click here to view and/or listen to the full article

Enjoy!  JoAnn

Management Success Tip – Pay New Hires to Leave – Huh?

Want a counterintuitive route to management success?….well you may or may not. But, you may want a creative way of enhancing employee motivation, increasing employee retention, and accessing a management best practice.…If so, read on...

Though this article was written sometime ago, I think it flew under the radar for some time.  I’d like to resurrect it.  At the end of this post you’ll find the link to the full story.

The headline? Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit. Now at first blush you might be thinking…what?…it cost me money to hire them and now I’m going to pay more money to let them go…encourage them to leave?

This thought begs an essential question regarding profitable management and here it is, “How much does it cost to keep an employee who is underperforming, has proven to not be a good fit, has proven to not be coachable and is now disruptive?”  Might I suggest way more than $2,000.00. If nothing else think of the ripple effect on fellow team members and their productivity.

The cost is more explicitly spelled out in a study conducted by The Future Foundation. You can find the key findings via an article at this link. The Hidden Cost of Poor People Performance. It worth your time to read!

It’s been my experience as I’ve connected with thousands of managers across North America, that it is a very common practice to keep these kind of employee way too long!  Now there are many reasons for that, but the point is it’s happening more than it should and it absolutely does hurt a companies bottom line as well as the morale of the direct reports and fellow team members.

In this new economy where there is a crying need to be innovative in all areas of business practice, more innovation regarding this people part of business is essential as well.

I am going to consider this a potential best practice.  Here is the link to the full article: Full Article

Coaching tip: See how this practice can be implemented or modified in some way or see how the spirit of the practice can be applied in your situation.