On our Management Open Courses, we often find the most interesting discussions revolve around the section on Leadership styles, because many people have heard about them but haven’t really learned enough about them to build their knowledge and awareness of how to change styles when necessary.

On the programme, we discuss that there are many styles you can choose from but it’s generally the situation itself that will dictate which style you should adopt. Here’s a resume of what we discuss:

1) Get to know the various strengths, weaknesses, development areas, wants and needs of each staff member who works for you. This will allow you to have a good personal business relationship with each one.

2) Don’t allow any past negative situations to control how you lead your people. Your attitude will become clear immediately if you bring baggage forward from any past experiences or management positions you may have held.

3) Each team member is an individual and should be treated as such. Provide closer supervision with those who need to improve their performance. Give greater freedom and responsibility to those who have shown ability and perform in a professional way.

4) Communicate your vision and goals and objectives to all in the team. If you play your cards close to your chest, you run the risk of alienating the team and they will become suspicious of your motives.

5) Practice good communication skills and respect for the team no matter what type of day you are having. Consistency is one of the key attributes of any leader, and if you show yourself to be moody or up-and-down in your demeanour, you are less likely to encourage others to approach you with honesty and openness.

By choosing the correct style of leadership with your team, you create the best opportunity to get them behind you and firing on all cylinders in their work.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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

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Having a vision is important, regardless of your position within an organisation. Your vision is your dream for your self, your team, or your organisation as a whole.

Here’s the problem, though. I’ve met dozens of people with great visions, but none of them had any idea how they would make those visions into a reality. They had no strategy in mind.

If your vision is your dream, then your strategy is your action plan. It’s the roadmap you create for yourself. If you follow that roadmap, your dreams will come true.

So you want to be the top selling sales team within the organisation? What stragety will you devise in order to help your team members achieve that goal? You want to have the best customer service reputation in the industry? What will you do to help your team members be the best that they can be?

Once you have a strategy in mind, you’ll need to implement some specific tactics. The tactics you use are the actual actions you take to make your dreams come true. You’re no longer dreaming or thinking – you’re doing. You will get up in the morning, you will go into the office, you will have a planning meeting, and you will continue by doing xyz.

Get it?

Visions are dreams.

Strategies are road maps.

Tactics are action.

Take action. Whether that means becoming a better manager or achieving some other great goal. Just do it.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

It’s Monday. Your weekend seems like it was just a bit too short. You’ve entered your office, settled down behind your desk, and before you know it you’re receiving a barrage of complaints from EmployeeX about his job, what he doesn’t like about a particular task, and what he perceives other employees are saying about him behind his back. It doesn’t really matter what you say to EmployeeX – he’s always combative and argumentative. He doesn’t deal appropriately with other coworkers and, to be honest, he’s a distraction in the workplace.

So how do you deal with someone who is difficult, on all levels, on a regular basis?

You need to start out by doing your homework. What exactly is it that causes EmployeeX to be so difficult. Why does he always complain? Why does he feel like other take credit for his work (or why does he take credit for the work others have done)? Everyone can be difficult on occasion – due to stress or a problem at at home – but EmployeeX seems to always have some sort of problem.

When you’re doing your homework, look for facts. Think about the inappropriate behaviour you have witnessed or think about the situations where you have multiple witnesses who can tell you what happened. Heresay, gossip, and rumors won’t help you solve problems. Are you making the problem worse in the way you respond (combative vs. combative)?

Your next step is to make a plan for confronting the employee in question. Determine the severity of the situation and, if it warrants such action, ask a HR representative to sit in on the meeting. It’s not fun to do, but you absolutely have to tell EmployeeX that his behaviour in the workplace is simply not appropriate. Talk to him and see if you can determine exactly what it is that causes his behavioural issues. Don’t interrupt him, repeat back parts of what he is saying so that he knows you are listening, and try to set some guidlines that dicatate more appropriate behaviour at work.

In the end, you’ll come up with some sort of solution. EmployeeX will either embrace the opportunity you’re giving him for change or he’ll stray further away. If that’s the case, you’ll need to get him help or – unfortunately – sever your working relationship.

It’s OK to do that if you find there are no other options. The trick, as a manager, is knowing how to recognize when you’ve run out of options.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

We’ve talked about anger and the importance of properly managing it in the past. The truth is that everyone is going to get angry while at work at least once during the course of his career. Everyone will handle that anger differently but there are a few who will have no idea how to appropriately respond to anger – especially in a formal environment. While throwing things around or yelling may work in the privacy of your home, it simply doesn’t fly in the work environment.

For this reason it is important to run an anger management class for your entire workplace. Everyone should participate, whether they have shown signs of anger problems at work or not. Someone might be having problems at home that the course might help while others may have something brewing just under the surface.

Simply put, here are a few reasons you can use to justify running an anger management class at work:

• Human resources might want management to take an anger management course as a preventative measure; so that they can control themselves and understand what their employees are going through.
• Your employees may recognize that they have anger problems but may not have any idea where to turn for help – and, as such, won’t get help unless it is offered.
• You can make participation in an anger management class a condition of employment for employees who have displayed anger problems in the past.
• Taking an anger management class might help someone in your group at home – and people who are happy at home will be happier and less distracted at work.
• Anger management classes might help your employees work better together, especially in groups where there is constantly friction due to personality conflict.

Anger management classes aren’t the end-all-be-all when it comes to solving problems – but they can help. Consider adding one to the schedule in your workplace soon. You might be surprised at how effective the classes really are.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Throughout my career I’ve learned two things. Successful people have had (or currently have) coaches and those who seem to be struggling with their careers are usually the ones who do not have coaches (or think they don’t need them). Over the next couple of days I want to take some time to dispell some of the myths circulating about the values of coaching – whether you’re on the giving or receiving end.

5. I’m successful, so I don’t need a coach.

Nope. Wrong. You may, at one point in your career, learn a certain set of skills. As you advance, you’ll need to build upon those skills and the higher you get on the management food chain the more important they’ll become. You need a coach by your side to help you learn how to get better at the things you’re not as strong at. And trust me – no matter what you think, you’re not already perfect.

4. I don’t need counseling or therapy.

That’s wonderful. The good news is that coaching is NOT counseling, nor is it therapy. Yes, you do get to have private conversations with your coach. Yes, you will get to talk about your goals and aspirations. The difference is that your coach is there to inspire you and help you build a successful career while a therapist would merely be trying to heal you.

3. I don’t have a problem, so I don’t need coaching.

What’s more effective – preventative medicine or medicine administered after you’re ill? The truth is that a coach can help you to build your career from the ground up, giving you advice and guidance along the way so that you don’t make a mess out of it. If you wait until you have problems (like a bad reputation) it may be too late to save your career – with or without a coach.

2. I can’t find a coach with the same experience I have.

Why on earth would you want a coach exactly like you are? Why wouldn’t you want a coach who already has a proven track record as a leader? Someone with technical expertise, amazing communication skills, and the ability to share insight. The truth is that you could have a coach from a completely different industry and the ideas he shares with you will be just as valid.

1. Coaching doesn’t matter because you can’t prove a ROI.

Contrary to popular belief, there are ways of measuring your ROI (return on investment) in regards to the benefits of your coaching experience. As a matter of fact, studies have shown ROI numbers ranging up to 600% in some cases.

Take a look at each of these myths, or misconceptions, and erase them from your mind. The benefits of coaching are many, and measurable.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Development

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