Tag Growing Leaders

How to Give Meaningful Feedback

Steve Keating Leave a comment

It is a bit surprising how many people in leadership positions are unaware how important feedback is to the people they lead. Some just don’t like giving feedback. Some think providing feedback could lead to a confrontation so they avoid it like the plague. Some, sadly, are simply too damn lazy to make the effort required to provide meaningful feedback.

But if you’re in a leadership position you must understand that your people need to know how they are doing. They need to know if they are meeting your expectations. They need to know if what they are doing is adding value to the organization. The need to know if they are making a difference.

If you don’t tell them they are likely to assume the worst. In all of those situations. That will demotivate them and cause them to disengage. I do not know of a single organization that can afford disengaged people. Not a one!

Giving meaningful feedback is crucial for the personal and professional growth of the people you lead. Whether you are comfortable with giving feedback or not you need to do it. Here are some steps that might help you give meaningful feedback in a way that doesn’t stress you, or your people, out.

Be Specific. Address particular actions, behaviors, or situations rather than generalizations. For example, instead of saying, “Your presentation was great,” say, “I appreciated how you used real-life examples to illustrate your points in the presentation.”

Be Timely. Offer feedback as soon as possible after the event or behavior you’re addressing. This ensures that the details are fresh in both your mind and the recipient’s, making the feedback more relevant and actionable. Do not “store up” a bunch of feedback and then bury someone with it all at once. There are few things a leader can do that are more demoralizing than that.

Be Balanced. Provide a mix of positive feedback and constructive criticism. Highlight what the person did well, and then suggest areas for improvement. This balance helps maintain motivation and morale while still encouraging growth.

Focus on Behavior, Not Personality. Feedback should address actions or behaviors, not the individual’s personality or character. For instance, instead of saying, “You’re lazy,” say, “I noticed that you missed the deadline for the project.”

Use “I” Statements. Express your observations and feelings using “I” statements to avoid sounding accusatory or judgmental. For example, say, “I noticed that you arrived late to the meeting,” instead of, “You’re always late.”

Offer Constructive Criticism. When providing criticism, be constructive and offer suggestions for improvement. Avoid simply pointing out flaws without providing guidance on how to address them. Do not say, “you need to do better.” Let them know exactly what “better” looks like and exactly how they can get there.

Be Sincere and Genuine. Authenticity is key to meaningful feedback. Ensure that your feedback comes from a place of genuine concern and desire to help the person grow, rather than from a place of criticism or judgment.

Encourage Dialogue. Feedback should be a two-way conversation. Encourage the recipient to ask questions, seek clarification, or share their perspective. This fosters mutual understanding and allows for a more productive exchange of feedback.

Set Clear Expectations. Clearly communicate your expectations moving forward, especially if the feedback is related to performance or behavior in a specific context. This helps the recipient understand what changes or improvements are needed.

Follow Up. Check in periodically to see how the person is progressing based on the feedback you provided. Offer ongoing support and guidance as needed, and acknowledge improvements or efforts made.

Giving meaningful feedback is not just about pointing out what went wrong. Any boss can do that. A leader is concerned about helping individuals learn and grow to reach their full potential. Make sure that’s your goal when giving feedback and you will do well.

One-Time
Monthly
Yearly

Consider buying my next Diet Coke(s)
Yes, I know it’s not the healthiest beverage but I kind of sort of live on the stuff… and the stuff is getting as expensive as gold. 😋
I’d appreciate any support but seriously, support or not, I’ll continue to try and write a blog that gives back, informs and sometimes even entertains. I hope you enjoy it!

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

$5.00
$15.00
$100.00
$5.00
$15.00
$100.00
$5.00
$15.00
$100.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly

Leadership Fixers

Steve Keating 3 Comments

As I’ve written almost endlessly not everyone who occupies a position of leadership are actually leading. They are leaders in name, title, or position only. 

One of the characteristics of these types of leaders is they tend to be “fixers.” Instead of giving their people a chance to learn they ‘jump in” and solve every problem for them. While the “leader” may feel better about themselves it does nothing to grow their people. While the “leader” may think they are helping their people they are more than likely demoralizing them. 

Some people will welcome their “leader” doing the heavy lifting for them. So much so they they begin to count on it. When that happens the “leader” becomes an enabler for lack of effort and initiative. The potential for growth is stopped in its tracks. 

Authentic Leaders allow their people to figure things out for themselves. They not only give them the opportunity to learn, they encourage, even insist, that they take advantage of that opportunity. 

The potential for growth is unlimited. Authentic Leaders grow more leaders. Innovation thrives. The culture is collaborative and there are few consequences for mistakes when lessons are taken from them. 

It takes discipline for an Authentic Leader to let their people make mistakes and learn from them. It takes patience to allow their people the time required to figure things out that the leader already knows. 

Authentic Leaders see helping their people learn and grow as an investment. Leaders in name only see those same things as an expense with no ROI. 

So what about you? Are you a fixer? Understand that being a fixer who doesn’t trust their people to figure things out on their own and a well intentioned fixer who thinks they are doing their people a service by solving their problems create the same outcomes. 

Don’t limit your people. Don’t prevent them from growing. Let them figure things out on their own. Even if it takes longer than if you just did it for them. Letting your people learn is not an expense, it quite possibly may be the best investment you’ll ever make. 

Authentic Leaders Build a Strong Bench

Steve Keating 1 Comment

Most Authentic Leaders wear at least two hats. The first of course is the hat of leadership. Leadership focuses on the people in the organization. People are what make an organization what it is. People are important, in fact, absolutely vital to the success of an organization. 

The second hat is the hat of management. Management focuses on the nut and bolts of running an organization. There are a ton of seemingly urgent tasks associated with managing a business or organization. In reality many of them are not all that important. 

But forever, managers and leaders alike have fallen into the trap known as the tyranny of the urgent. Once in that trap they spend way more time handling urgent matters, often, very very often, at the expense of the truly important things. The things that involve their people. 

One of those things, perhaps the most important thing, that gets buried in the tyranny of the urgent is developing the people who will one day lead the organization into the future. These are the people who will either maintain or even grow your culture as a competitive advantage. 

Developing these future leaders requires an intentional and deliberate investment of time. It requires that the Authentic Leader invest a piece of themselves in the success of their people. Authentic Leaders invest time to know and understand their people’s goals and objectives. It’s through that process that they learn about their strengths and developmental opportunities. 

When seeking to build a strong bench of future leaders they look for particular qualities that can grow into Authentic Leadership. They make note of an individual’s ability to communicate effectively. Effective communication means both speaking well AND listening well. It means being prepared to share ideas during a meeting and being able to defend their talking points with evidence and support materials. 

Authentic Leaders want their future leaders to possess outstanding human relations skills. The ability to build solid relationships is critical to any leadership role and ALL relationships are built on a foundation of trust. So today’s Authentic Leaders look for honesty and integrity in their future leaders. 

Leaders help groups of individuals become a focused and disciplined team. Leaders who build leaders observe their people to see who everyone gravitates to. Is there one person who other people consistently go to for help and advice? That may be your future leader. 

Authentic Leaders know that all leaders lead by example, whether they intend to or not. So they look for people who model the culture and values of the organization. They also want their future leaders to possess strong personal values and most importantly, live according to those values. 

They know that everyone makes mistakes. They also know that not everyone recovers from those mistakes. So they look for people who first of all are not afraid to make a decision. They pay particular attention when one of those decisions go wrong. They want to see the level of perseverance in the person and their creativity in fixing the wrong decision. They watch closely for the person’s willingness to accept responsibility for the mistake with integrity. People who attempt to hide their mistakes, or worse, shift responsibility to someone else, will never be an Authentic Leader. 

So, how about you. Are you working daily to strategically develop your “bench” of future leaders? If you’re not then I would submit to you that you’re missing a huge part of Authentic Leadership. That’s the part where you leave your organization in even better hands then when you were first given the helm. 

To make that happen you must keep yourself out of that trap of the tyranny of the urgent. One way to do that is to set aside time each day to work with, get to know, and build relationships with your people. Each day. All the time. It must be a priority. It must take precedence over the urgent things that may add no long term value to the organization. 

Your success as a leader depends a little bit on what you do today. But it is ultimately determined by what the people you leave behind do tomorrow. If that causes you to make developing a strong bench of future leaders a priority today, than the objective of this post has been accomplished. 🙂

Why Are There so Many Poor Leaders?

Steve Keating 1 Comment

Almost every time I write a blog post or post something on Twitter about how to lead effectively, I get a flood of responses. Most are about how people are impacted by poor leadership. 

It’s seems that people believe there are far more poor leaders in the world today than there are good ones. They believe that because sadly, it’s true. 

While it’s true, it’s not a surprise. It’s not a surprise when you realize that the vast majority of people in leadership positions have less than 10 hours of formal leadership development. Even many people at the very top of organizations have learned how to lead through on the job training. Which isn’t necessary bad, unless of course the people showing them how to lead are poor leaders themselves…and that’s very often the case. 

If you’re in a leadership position and have no formal leadership training then it’s most likely that you are leading the same way that you were led. It’s also most likely that the people who have led you throughout your career had no formal leadership training either. They have passed down to you the same poor leadership habits that were passed down to them. 

But here’s the thing about formal leadership training. It can’t actually teach you how to lead. 

It can make you aware of the characteristics that Authentic Leaders possess. It can help you develop some of those characteristics within yourself. Formal leadership training can help prepare you for making difficult decisions by role playing.  Also through case studies of situations previously dealt with by Authentic Leaders. Formal leadership training helps a ton. It helps you learn from the mistakes of others. It helps you understand the huge difference between attempting to manage a person and leading someone in a way that has a positive impact on their life. 

But eventually, your leadership abilities will come down to who you are as a person. Your leadership effectiveness will be determined by how much you care for the people you lead and how willing you are to show it. You need to be honest with yourself to accomplish that. Likely more honest than you’re able to be without some additional help.

That’s why I say again and again successful leaders NEED a mentor. Or mentors. This person, or these people are your “board of directors.” Your “board” can be a group of close friends who you respect as successful people, regardless of their area of expertise. But they must be people who are comfortable telling you uncomfortable truths. They must also be people who you trust enough to listen to and act upon those truths. 

But here’s the one thing that separates great leaders from lesser leaders. The most accomplished leaders didn’t wait until they were placed in a leadership position to develop their leadership skills. They knew that a position or fancy title was not a prerequisite for leading. They formed their “board” early in their careers and followed through on the advice they received. 

When their time came to lead there was no “on the job training” required. They were prepared to make a positive difference in the lives of others because they had been doing it all along.

Do you have a board? If not, it’s never too late to start one. Consider your board member(s) carefully. They don’t have to be your best friends, in fact it might be better if they aren’t. You don’t need to always see eye to eye with them, in fact it’s definitely better if you don’t. 

If you’re given the opportunity to lead then you have the chance to impact future generations that may never know your name. You can have a positive impact by being the leader who stops the legacy of poor leadership. Even if your past “leaders” have been more like Attila the Hun than Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela you can break the cycle of poor leadership.  You can make the decision that you will lead authentically and not the way you were led. 

Authentic Leadership is hard. You have to really want to do it. It requires real effort but the gratitude of the people you made a difference for is well worth that effort. 

So what do you say? Will you be a difference maker? All it takes to get started is a decision that you will LeadToday!

On a another note… Everyone can use a “nudge” towards success. I’m trying something new on Twitter. It’s called “Super Followers.” For $5 a month, that’s 17 cents a day, people can follow a part of my Twitter stream that is for subscribers only. It features short videos of me discussing leadership topics, sales tips and ideas for better overall relationships. I’m assuming there will be far fewer Super Followers than the million or so people who regularly follow me on Twitter. That will give me the opportunity to answer questions more throughly than I can on regular Twitter. Most of the answers will come in the evening cause we all have day jobs, right? Think of it as ”mentoring on demand!”

My goal with SuperFollowers is to build a better connection, one where I can help more and have a greater impact. I’m hoping it gives me a chance to mentor to a wider audience. It’s still new, we’ll see how it works. It’s a $5 dollar investment that may be the extra “push” you need to get to where you want to be. I’d be honored to be able to help get you there. 

You can find more information by clicking the Super Follow button on my Twitter profile page IN THE TWITTER APP. http://twitter.com/leadtoday Give it a try if you’re so inclined, and if you are, be sure to let me know how I’m doing and how I can be of even more help.

The Trail of an Authentic Leader

Steve Keating 3 Comments

I’m sometimes asked how I can tell when someone is an Authentic Leader. People want to know what to look for, what to listen for and what “signs” signify that someone is an Authentic Leader. 

While there are certainly identifiable character traits of Authentic Leadership there is one surefire way to know without a doubt that someone is an Authentic Leader. They leave a trail behind them. The trail is littered with leaders. 

Authentic Leaders invest the time required to develop their people. They begin the process of developing their people with the understanding that people need to be reminded more than they need to be taught. That is particularly true when it comes to leadership. 

Leadership is “modeled” much more than it is taught. That’s why it is so important that leaders always keep in mind that they are the models for successful leadership behaviors. They don’t tell people what to do, they show them. They know that people will do what their leader does 1000 times faster than they will do what their leader says. 

Authentic Leaders grow new leaders through consistency and persistence. They don’t offer drive by coaching. They know that elevating others requires work, patience and a willingness to suffer the occasional setback. Maybe even more than occasional. They don’t coach in their free time, instead they set aside time, often daily, to invest in their people. They don’t provide all the answers for their people, they help their people develop answers on their own. 

One of the reasons Authentic Leaders don’t give all the answers is that they admit they don’t have all the answers to begin with. They are willing to learn from anyone, anytime. They know the best leaders are constant learners. They also are not afraid to admit when they are wrong or have made a mistake. They take ownership of and responsibility for, their actions. 

They also give ownership away to help their people grow. They delegate tasks and the responsibility for getting them done. They allow their people to take ownership of the task. The allow them to make decisions and determine the steps to make to ensure successful completion of the task. 

Authentic Leaders know that the best way to help people learn to make decisions is to let them make decisions. That also means allowing them to clean up the messes they make from a poor decision. 

Authentic Leaders make most every decision with an eye towards the future. The full future. That includes who they will leave behind as leaders when their own time in the top spot comes to a close. 

I ask people in leadership positions who they are currently developing to fill future leadership positions. Many of them tell me they are too busy leading to “spend” time on developing people. That tells me without a doubt that while they may hold a leadership position they most certainly are not an Authentic Leader. 

Authentic Leaders consistently “invest” the time to develop the next generation of leaders and they leave a substantial trail of leaders behind them as a result. 

So…who are you developing today for the leadership roles of tomorrow?

Hiring Non Leaders

Steve Keating 4 Comments

Only 11% of HR leaders are confident that they have the “bench strength” to fill leadership positions when they open up. That means, if my arithmetic is correct, that 89% of HR leaders are NOT confident that they have a strong group of up and coming leaders. 

Yet they continue to hire people with no leadership potential. Or at best they hire people not knowing if they have leadership potential. 

I think, and it’s just my thinking because I’ve not seen or done any research on this, but I think it’s because HR teams focus on the task at hand today. That task is filling open positions somewhere in the organization. Most of those positions are not considered leadership positions. So there is little or no consideration given to the interviewees leadership potential. 

If someone is hired who turns out to have leadership abilities then that’s great. They will be “discovered” in the course of doing their jobs and perhaps earmarked for further development. If they turn out to actually be able to lead then the organization will have gotten lucky. 

I wonder how many CEOs think it’s a good idea to “luck into” their future leaders? I’m betting not a single one. Yet when an organization hires someone without understanding their leadership potential they are leaving their future to chance. 

Sometimes Hiring Managers intentionally hire people without leadership potential. I remember a conversation with a Director of Marketing some years ago who was looking for a Marketing Communications Manager. He told me he was looking for someone who didn’t know anything about marketing or communications. He wanted someone who would do what they were told. He was tired of people suggesting new ideas or questioning his “orders.” 

Ya might say that person wasn’t exactly forward thinking. You can definitely say he wasn’t a leader.

As I write this post there are a record number of job openings in the United States. The competition for qualified candidates has never been greater. That has caused many organizations to lower their “standards” more than a little. 

I understand the need to fill open positions but that’s a mighty slippery slope. Despite the difficulty finding qualified new employees my recommendation for HR professionals hasn’t changed. I recommend organizations hire ONLY promotable people with leadership potential. 

When you can boldly and honestly tell candidates that you only hire promotable people with leadership potential it becomes a great recruiting statement. Word will get out and the quality of your candidates will go up. 

I’d ask every candidate about their previous leadership experience. An answer indicating they have never had an opportunity to lead would be a red flag. Everyone has opportunities to lead. I would ask for an example of when they chose to lead. I’d ask for an example of when they were forced by circumstances to lead. I’d ask about the outcomes from their leadership. What they learned, what the people who were influenced by their leadership learned. 

I’d ask those types of questions to every single candidate regardless of the position they were applying for. 

If they have no answers but are qualified for the job they are being interviewed for than the HR Professional has a decision to make. Do I hire this person who can help us today or do I hold off until and can find someone I know can help us today AND perhaps even more tomorrow. 

I do not envy HR Professionals and Hiring Managers who have to make that decision. But I encourage them to think about how long their organization can survive if the leadership potential of every new hire is unknown.

Don’t hope to luck into your future. Hire people with leadership potential. Help them develop into the leaders that will move your organization forward for years to come. 

Staggering Leadership Statistics

Steve Keating 2 Comments

I can’t find any statistics on this but I’d be willing to bet a few paychecks that the most used word in businesses across the world is leadership. Every organization talks about their leadership. The need for more leadership. The need for better leadership. Their investment in leadership training. And on and on it goes. 

But for 95% of organizations in the US it appears to be merely lip service. 83% of companies say it’s important to develop leaders at all levels of their organization. But only 5% of companies have implemented leadership training across all levels. 

69% of Millennials are concerned that their companies do not help them develop their leadership skills. 59% of those Millennials say they are looking for opportunities at companies that will. 

Only 11% of HR leaders feel their organization has a strong “bench” that can take over leadership roles as they open up. 

60% of people currently in leadership positions say they feel beat up and worn out at the end of the day. 44% of those say they plan to explore opportunities at other companies to advance their careers. 26% of those say they will leave their current companies in the next 6-12 months. For many of the people in these leadership positions that beat-up feeling comes from a lack of formal leadership training. They don’t realize that they are managing people people instead of leading them.

55% of CEOs say that developing the next generation of leaders for their organization is a top priority. That’s what the say but that’s not what they show. When a leader’s words do not match their actions their credibility quickly goes south. That creates an entire host of additional problems. 

Every survey and every bit of research in 2021 leads to the same conclusion. There is a vast shortage of Authentic Leadership in business (and government for that matter) today and the shortages are only going to get worse. 

The majority of people elevated to leadership positions have less than 10 hours of formal leadership training during their entire careers. Some studies say that’s true for over 80% of people in leadership positions. 

If you’re running any type of organization and you hope for it to survive in the future you must stop paying lip service to this issue. You need to begin developing the future leaders of your organization. It is also vital that you understand the distinct differences between management training and actual leadership training. 

You may think that you’re investing plenty in leadership development. But are you really? You can invest a bundle in management training. That however will do little to nothing to develop your leadership team. Management training pertains to running a organization. Leadership training pertains to growing the people within the organization. Leadership training and management training are not the same.

The difference is not mere semantics as some would have you believe. You manage things, you lead people. When you attempt to manage people they feel as if they are being treated like a thing, not a person. They do not feel appreciated. 

79% of people who have left a job in the last year stated that not feeling appreciated was their number one reason for leaving. 

Companies that actually invest in training to develop Authentic Leaders do not lose people. They experience very little turnover. They grow their people AND their business. 

Still think you’re doing a great job developing your future leaders?