A key task that you as a manager can always improve in is that of creating a vision that will inspire your team.

An inspiring vision should not just be left to the senior management team to develop. It’s something that will drive and motivate your small team as well, no matter what position you hold within the organisation. It must be clear and inspiring, enabling and practical. Here are some tips you can use to develop your own vision with your own team:

Ensure you develop your vision with your team members in mind, and believe in it yourself! Make it realistic and make it personal and practical.

As with a satellite navigational system, you need to put the end destination in first before you can determine where you are now. Then you decide on the link between the two positions. Only then can you see the steps that need to be taken to bridge the gap.

Get support from higher management for your vision. Without that, you face an upwards struggle and obstacles when you need to gain commitment from the budget-holders.

Next, think about how you are going to communicate the vision and what the medium of communication will be. Will you launch it at a big open meeting? A series of smaller meetings? One-on-Ones? A mixture of all of these? Whatever you decide, make sure everyone understands it, and what their role is in it.

Be available at all times to talk individually to everyone if they have any questions or queries about the application of the vision.

Make sure everyone has the help they need to build the skills to participate in the vision.

Set milestones along the route so everyone knows how they are doing against the planned journey. Help everyone to buy-in to the journey.

Keep an eye open for anyone who tries, meaningfully or not, to sabotage the journey on the route to the vision. These negative people may impact the rest, so keep them under your wing and offer support at all times.

Ensure you mention the vision and the goals often, so everyone can see how committed you are to achieving it.

Live it yourself, so all team members can follow your lead and example every step of the way.

Celebrate achieving goals along the way. The vision is the journey and everyone must see the rewards if they are to maintain momentum on the journey. Keep it clear and motivational, and you will reap the rewards of teamwork, positivity, motivation and drive.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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Leadership is one of those qualities we all know we need to develop but wonder how we can apply it every day at work.

According to Vadim Kotelnikov, who carried out a survey on leadership roles, there are a number of main qualities that people look for in their leaders, and I’ve listed them below:

Charisma
Great Communication
Energising People
Competence in the Job
Vision

Now, in what order do you think Kotelnikov’s survey placed these, in order of importance to people working for them?

Many people would assume that all five are very important, which, naturally, they are. But his survey showed there was a definite leaning towards certain attributes above others.

Top of the list was having a vision. Especially in these trying times, vision is a key attribute followers want from their leaders in business. Vision is a short and inspiring statement of what your organisation intends to become and achieve in the near future. It provides purpose and motivation to all who buy into it. It’s inspiring when someone who you look up to creates a vision that you want to aim for and can have confidence in realising.

Next on the list was Energising others. How would a leader do that? By setting the example and living the ethics of integrity and honesty. People will follow that kind of leader wherever he takes them, and it doesn’t matter what position the leader is in the company: character says more about a person than anything else, because that is where results come from.

Third in the survey was great Communication. It’s simply not possible for a leader to inspire others unless their communication skills are honed and tested. People follow the example of leadership, so by communicating effectively with all stakeholders in a business, a leader shows their abilities in all areas.

Next came Competence, closely followed by Charisma. The survey shows that the soft skills are of more importance than the actual ability to do the job. It follows that Charisma, although a desirable trait for a great leader, is something that is not an absolute necessity in order to be effective. People don’t need passionate, inspiring speeches to motivate them; it’s more about how leaders get the best out of their people through intrinsic motivation.

So when you are wondering about how to get the best out of your people in the future, remember this survey and consider how you have communicated your vision for your team so that you energise them effectively. That way, you have covered the top three qualities that people are looking for from their team leaders.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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Michelangelo once said ““The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it”

I’ve always loved that quote as it epitomises what we as managers should look out for if we are to continue our development as inspiring leaders.

It’s true that the greatest enemy of excellence is ‘good enough’. When we think we’ve reached a particular level, we oftentimes say that we’ve done enough and should stop there. That’s the danger that Michelangelo was warning against…the tendency and habit to do just enough and then stop.

Does this mean you have to continue and go on and on relentlessly, never stopping to take breath? Of course not! It means we have to be aware of our potential at all times and not allow ourselves to be drawn into the ‘good enough’ syndrome, when you know in your heart it could have been a little bit or much better.

Let me ask you, what are you aiming for in your job? What are you capable of? Are you really tapping into your potential, or have you settled for being ok, average, the ordinary Joe or Jo, mediocre and run-of-the-mill?

Someday, you’ll look back on your career and have to answer the question, ‘did I do my best? Genuinely? All the time?’

Only you can answer that. And only you can grasp the opportunity to be the best you can be, so that you aim high all the time, rather than aiming for mediocrity and achieving it.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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Jack Welch was a respected business leader and writer and is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book ‘Jack: Straight From The Gut’):

1. There is only one way – the straight way. It sets the tone of the organisation.
2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your organisation.
3. Get the right people in the right jobs – it is more important than developing a strategy.
4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.
5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.
6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner – the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open.
7. Business has to be fun – celebrations energise and organisation.
8. Never underestimate the other guy.
9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.
10. Know when to meddle and when to let go – this is pure instinct.

As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen by:

* knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them
* building a team committed to achieving the objectives
* helping each team member to give their best efforts

Jack is now a well-sought speaker, as he turned the fortunes of GE in the States during the 80′s and 90′s. He made some enemies along the way because of some of his methods, but he has been widely recognised as one of the most influential management thinker of the 20th century.

If you haven’t caught up with Jack’s ideas in full, I advise you to check out some of his writings and the articles about him…it will be worth your while to catch up with someone who made a massive impact on business in the last quarter of a century.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

When should you lead and when should you manage?

This age-old question has been asked by many people on our programmes.

Our short answer is…it depends on the situation. Whether you show adequate leadership skills or display excellent management abilities will be determined by the results you are trying to achieve. Management and leadership are like different sides of the same coin, and it’s vital that you choose wisely, or you may be looking at the wrong side. Here’s some thoughts of how to differentiate between the two:

A manager thinks short term, tactically, a leader has a longer term, more strategic focus.
A manager plans how and when, a leader asks “what?” and “how?”
A manager looks at the bottom line, a leader looks to the horizon.
A manager knows the business, a leader knows the customer.
A manager focuses on improving existing products and processes, a leader focuses on the new product and the breakthrough process.
A manager supervises, a leader influences.
A manager builds success through quality, a leader builds success through employees.
A manager sets standards of performance, a leader sets new standards.

You can see that it’s mainly a case of what situation you are in before you choose to adopt a clear leadership style or whether you decide to manage the scenario. A rough guide would be that managers manage tasks and leaders lead people. If you have a report to complete by the end of the week, you manage the time, resources, equipment, planning, organisation and control of the project. You lead the people side of the project by motivating, communicating, giving feed-forward and feed-back, mentoring and coaching the staff who will be helping you achieve the results you are looking for.

Be careful not to mix up the two, though. Management is about planning, control and organisation. People don’t like to have their day planned or controlled for them. Set the results you want clearly and succinctly, then lead the people to achieve those results.

That way, you don’t confuse your people about expectations and objectives. Lead your people, manage your tasks, and everyone will know where they are.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”