Tag Leadership Actions

How to Improve Your Executive Presence

Steve Keating Leave a comment

I have, unfortunately, actually seen people promoted into leadership positions because they “looked like a leader.” When I have asked what about those people’s look qualified them for a leadership position I was told, “that’s hard to define but look at them, they are obviously a leader.” 

So that’s obviously, at least to me, completely ridiculous. There is no leadership “look.” Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They come in all colors and ages. They come from incredibly diverse backgrounds and levels of education. You can no more tell if someone will be a good leader by looking at them than you can judge a book by it’s cover. 

But….there are solid reasons for making at least some effort to “look the part” of a leader. There are people you notice almost immediately when you walk into a room and there are people who seem to almost disappear in a room. Those you notice right away are said to possess a certain “presence.” Or in the case of leadership, an executive presence. 

Improving your executive presence can be crucial when you need to project confidence, credibility, and leadership moxie. If you’re interested in projecting a more professional presence, be it in a leadership role or not, here are some things to keep in mind. 

  • Understand your strengths, weaknesses, values, and communication style. This self-awareness will allow you to align your behaviors and actions with your authentic self. I have always been honest with myself about my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve not always chosen to work on my weaknesses, instead I’ve tried to play to my strengths. But I’ve never tried to hide those weaknesses, especially from myself. If you’re going to lead, you had better be honest with yourself about what you can and can’t do. That’s vital because if you can’t be honest with yourself you won’t be honest with anyone. 
  • Effective communication is essential for executive presence. Improve both your verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Things like articulating ideas clearly, active listening, and maintaining eye contact matter.  I sold the Dale Carnegie Public Speaking course for years. I can tell you nothing, absolutely nothing, projects a more powerful executive presence than being an effective communicator in front of a group. And anyone can improve their public speaking skills.
  • Dress appropriately for your industry and the occasion, ensuring that your appearance reflects competence and professionalism. Dress codes have certainly changed and loosened over time but they have not completely gone away. When in doubt, “overdress” for the occasion. I’d much rather have someone sneering at me saying “who are you trying to impress” than have people looking at me wondering if I slept in my clothes. 
  • Confidence is a key element of executive presence. Build your confidence by acknowledging your accomplishments, seeking continuous learning, and challenging yourself. Practice positive self-talk and maintain a confident posture.
  • Strong interpersonal skills are crucial for building relationships and influencing others. Develop your ability to connect with people, actively listen, empathize, and adapt your communication style to different individuals and situations. But, and this is a big but, always be yourself. Adapt your communication style but don’t try to “fake” your way to executive presence. You will be found out!
  • Executives are expected to make well-informed decisions. Hone your critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills.  Use those skills to demonstrate your ability to make sound judgments and strategic decisions.
  • Build relationships with colleagues, industry peers, mentors, and leaders. A robust network provides support, guidance, and opportunities for growth, while also expanding your visibility and influence.
  • Seek feedback from trusted mentors, colleagues, or coaches who can provide constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement. Actively work on refining your skills and areas of development.

Executive presence is a journey that requires ongoing effort and self-reflection. By focusing on these areas and continuously striving for growth, you can enhance your executive presence and make a lasting impact in your professional career.

How to Delegate Successfully 

Steve Keating Leave a comment

There are people in leadership positions who use delegation as a tool to dump undesirable work on people they don’t particularly care for. But when used properly, the way Authentic Leaders use it, delegation can be a powerful tool to grow your future leaders. It not only builds their skills, it grows their confidence and keeps them engaged. Plus, it frees the leader to do something that their people can’t do. 

Here is a reality of leadership. This is true regardless of the size of your organization. As a leader, you should not be doing anything that one of your people has the ability to do. You should be doing the things that only you can do. If you’re doing something that someone else could do then the things that only you can do are not getting done. That adds unnecessary stress and results in lower overall productivity. That is NOT a recipe for growth in your organization. 

Here are some proven best practices to help you delegate more effectively and empower the people you lead.

  • Know what to delegate. Not every task can be delegated. Some tasks are too important, too sensitive, or require too much of your expertise. However, there are many tasks that can be delegated to others, freeing up your time to focus on the most important things.
  • Play to your people’s strengths and goals. When delegating tasks, consider their strengths and goals. Delegate tasks that are aligned with their skills and interests. This will help them feel more engaged and motivated.
  • Define the desired outcome. When delegating a task, be clear about the desired outcome. What do you want the person to accomplish? What are the specific goals or objectives? The clearer you are about the desired outcome, the easier it will be for the person to complete the task successfully.
  • Provide the right resources and level of authority. In order to be successful, the person you delegate to needs to have the right resources and level of authority. This may include access to information, equipment, or people. It may also mean giving them the authority to make decisions and take action.
  • Establish a clear communication channel. It’s important to establish a clear communication channel with the person you delegate to. This will help you stay updated on their progress and provide them with support when needed.
  • Trust your people. The most important thing is to trust your people. When you delegate tasks, you’re essentially giving them your trust. This shows that you believe in their abilities and that you’re willing to let them take ownership of their work.
  • Give them opportunities to learn and grow. One of the best ways to empower your people is to give them opportunities to learn and grow. This could involve providing them with training, mentoring, or opportunities to take on new challenges.
  • Encourage them to take initiative. Another way to empower your people is to encourage them to take initiative. This means giving them the freedom to make decisions and take action without having to ask for permission.
  • Celebrate their successes. When your people succeed, be sure to celebrate their successes. This will show them that you appreciate their hard work and that you’re proud of what they’ve accomplished.

As a leader you may be tempted to think that you and you alone can grow your business. You can to a point but one of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur can make is not letting go of some decisions. Regardless of the size of your business you cannot do it all. The sooner you begin to use delegation to grow your people the sooner they will help you to grow your business.  

Leadership Intangibles 

Steve Keating 1 Comment

I was talking with a colleague a few days ago and they asked me about which of the “leadership intangibles” are most important to the success of a leader. I think my answer surprised them, it likely disappointed them as well. 

That’s because my answer was there are no leadership intangibles. None. Zip. Nada. 

Everything my colleague believed to be an intangible of leadership must in fact be vividly tangible. For instance, they believed that caring for their people was an intangible of effective leadership. 

It’s the exact opposite. Authentic Leaders stand ready to demonstrate, in every possible manner, that they care deeply about the people they lead. They live the principle that says, “you can care for people without leading them but you cannot lead them without caring for them.” While anyone in a leadership position can say they care about their people, Authentic Leaders have no need to say it, they are demonstrating it with every conversation and every interaction. 

Giving recognition was offered up as another intangible of leadership. It is not. Giving recognition is an intentional and very visible act. If your people don’t realize that you recognize their commitment and effort then it’s the same as not recognizing them at all. 

I literally recommend that leaders put reminders on their smart phones so that they don’t go a single day without providing recognition to at least one of their people. As publicly as possible. When a person in a leadership position tells me that can’t find a reason to recognize their people every day I suggest they look harder…or sometimes just look. Quality effort is waiting to be recognized and once it is, it becomes much more visible.

Leaders who are quick to publicly recognize their people also never publicly admonish them. They keep their constructive coaching private. That’s critical because their people know that if the leader will publicly throw one of their people under the bus they will likely throw any of them, or all of them, under the same bus. 

Integrity was suggested as the ultimate intangible of Authentic Leadership. I was particularly flummoxed with this suggestion. Integrity has been given many “definitions.” It is said to be doing the right thing even when no one is watching. It has been described as “acting in a way that benefits many people rather than yourself. 

I take no issue with most of the definitions I’ve seen for integrity. But here’s the thing, leaders lead by example whether they know it or not. Their people are always watching. One element of integrity is doing what you say you will do. When you said you would do it. How you said you would do it. EVERY single time. Authentic Leaders know that they either have integrity ALL THE TIME or they don’t have integrity any time. Their integrity is public, visible, intentional and very very tangible.

As an Authentic Leader you don’t get to have any “intangibles.” All your actions are on display for your people to see. They will eventually know your thoughts as well for those thoughts will become your actions sooner or later. 

You lead by example. You lead by example. You lead by example. Remember that, counting on “intangibles” to help you lead will result in very limited leadership. As a leader your qualities and characters are always on full display for your people to see. Make sure they are seeing your best ones. 

Want more of LeadToday? I’m changing things up on my Twitter feed for subscribers. Beginning March 2nd I’ll be publishing two videos each week focusing on an element of Authentic Leadership. I’ll post these videos each Tuesday and Thursday morning. They will be about 10 minutes long so we can get into the topic in a more meaningful way. The investment for subscribers in still only $5 a month. That’s for at least 80 MINUTES of quality video content on leadership a month. 

If you’re interested in taking a look just head on over to my Twitter profile page. If you’re not a follower yet just hit the follow button. It will change to a subscribe button and once you hit that you’re on your way. You can cancel at any time you’ve decided you have nothing left to learn about leading the people who you count on for your success. 🙂

Here’s the link to my Twitter… https://twitter.com/leadtoday 

Overcoming the Frustration Challenge

Steve Keating 1 Comment

It’s a fact that sometimes people are promoted into leadership positions when they have, shall we say, some shortcomings. At least some perceived shortcomings. 

How you react under those circumstances says a lot more about you than it says about the person in the leadership position. It is common for a person being “led” by someone they feel is unqualified to hold a leadership position to “resist” that person. 

Resisting the person means at best they become a disengaged employee. At worst they become actively disengaged. 

A disengaged employee is someone who does the bare minimum required to keep their job. They make the determination that doing more than the bare minimum isn’t going to be rewarded. So they put forth a “why bother” level of effort. 

An actively disengaged employee is actually putting forth more effort. The problem is that much of that effort is focusing on being a disruption to the the organization. And a disruption to their “leader” in particular. 

I have been very fortunate to nearly always work for leaders who actually led. Yes, some were more effective than others but I learned good stuff from all of them. They each, in their own way, made me better. 

But my first “leader” right out of college might have taught me the most. Unfortunately, I learned it years after he was no longer leading me. It didn’t take very long in my first job out of college to realize that my “leader” wasn’t the smartest guy in the room. In fact, to my absolute surprise I figured out quickly that he was illiterate. He could not read or write. 

Yet he was the boss of a team of people with Electrical Engineering degrees. I was 22 years old and I had no idea what to make of this situation. Most people I told found it hard to believe that someone at his level could be illiterate. But he was. 

I found it more than challenging to take any kind of direction from this guy. I assumed that his inability to read and write made him an idiot. Then I decided, for reasons I still don’t completely understand, to make his life a living hell. I must say I was pretty good at it. 

So good in fact that it didn’t take long to find myself sitting in a conference room with an HR Rep, my boss and his boss. They told us to “work it out” and get back to work. But the way I worked it out was to leave the company and head for greener pastures. 

Over the years I thought about that boss and what I had learned from that experience. The big thing I learned was that I was a terrible team member. I might have been the best engineer on the team but I was the worst team member. I disrupted everyone with my shenanigans which were all focused on proving how much smarter I was than the boss. 

One of the other big things I learned from that experience was that just because I failed to see the strengths of my boss it didn’t mean others couldn’t see them. He had worked his way up through the company and earned the respect of the owners. They were very loyal to him. He understood their goals and worked tirelessly to help them achieve each one. He was a good “people person,” even if I didn’t realize that until it was much too late. 

It would be years before I understood one of my roles in an organization was to make the people around me better. That included the people above me in the organization. It was never going to be my place to expose any weaknesses of the people above me. My role was to identify any gaps they may have and fill those gaps with my own experience and skills. And that was regardless of whether or not I received any credit for it. It was also my role whether or not they knew I was doing it. 

It would be several more years before I would realize that in the most successful organizations everyone has that same role. That role is to find and fill the gaps of the people around and above you. That role is also in addition to everything else in your job description, not instead of. The role is not to expose gaps for the sole purpose of complaining about them. 

If you’re currently working for a leader who frustrates you the first thing you need to realize is that being frustrated is a choice. You can choose to be frustrated or you can choose to be fascinated. I’d recommend you be fascinated and curious about how a seemingly unqualified person achieved a leadership position in the first place. By working to understand that person you may discover the strengths that earned them that position. 

It’s when you identify a person’s strengths that it becomes much more rewarding to fill their gaps. Filling the gaps of the people around you also makes you a much more valuable employee…and a great team member.

Do not allow anyone with shortcomings in your organization to frustrate you. You can’t control their actions or their weaknesses. So control what you can and that’s your attitude and the level of effort you’ll put forth to be the very best version of yourself. 

And one last thing…before you even think about criticizing someone else for their shortcomings you’d better be darn sure you don’t have any of your own.

Leadership Luck

Steve Keating 3 Comments

The title of this post is really a misnomer. That’s because I don’t believe luck has anything to do with leadership. Someone may luck their way into a leadership position but they must earn the opportunity to truly lead. They especially earn the level of influence they have with the people they lead.

One of the most Authentic Leaders I’ve ever known would tell you a lucky seat assignment on a plane changed the course of his career. As a young employee of a company he happened to find himself seated across the isle from the one of the best Authentic Servant Leaders ever. He also happened to be running the company the young man worked for. 

But that’s where any luck ended. The young man would grow into an Authentic Servant Leader himself and one day succeed that Authentic Servant Leader he once sat across from. But not because he lucked into a particular seat assignment. 

He earned everything he got. Clearly he had some help along the way but he made the most of that help. He didn’t luck into positions where he could succeed, he worked himself into positions where he could succeed. 

He learned and then he learned some more. He made sacrifices and many if not most of those sacrifices benefited others more than himself. Making sacrifices for the good of the many is what puts the “Authentic” in Authentic Leadership. 

I’ve seen like a gazillion people who have occupied leadership positions. The vast majority of them are far from being an actual leader. I’ve also been blessed to know several Level Five Leaders. Not a one of them lucked their way into Authentic Leadership. 

If you’re not sure what a Level Five Leader is let me explain it this way. If a leader has had a lasting positive impact on your life then it’s highly likely they are a Level Five Leader. If you haven’t seen or talked to them in years yet you remember the lessons they showed you, it’s highly likely they are a Level Five Leader. If you’re showing those lessons to others today, then that leader who impacted you all those years ago was certainly a Level Five Leader.

If you’re in a leadership position don’t expect to luck your way into Authentic Leadership. You’ll have to work your way there. You’ll have to learn. Yes, you need to learn about the business or organization you’re in. But more important than that, you need to learn about people. People in general for sure but especially about the people you lead. 

You’ll have to make some tough calls on your way to Authentic Leadership. As you make those calls you’ll need to keep in mind that it’s the people you lead who make you a leader. It’s not your title or position. You’ll need to demonstrate your understanding of that fact even while making decisions that may have short-term negative consequences for the people you lead. 

You need to show you care about the people you lead. Even when they screw up. Even when you’re mad at them. Even when it would be easier to just go scorched earth on them. 

Authentic Leaders have tremendous influence on their people. They are aware of that fact every day. They model successful behavior for their people. They celebrate the success of their people, as much or more than they celebrate their own success. 

It’s a ton of work to become an Authentic Leader. But I’ve never known one who would say it wasn’t worth it. But here’s one thing they would never say, they would never say they were an Authentic Leader. Their humility just won’t allow it. 

So when you see one, be sure to say it for them. 

Human Speed Bumps 

Steve Keating 2 Comments

Authentic Leadership can be complicated. It’s about people and every person you lead will have the own experiences, challenges and motivations. There is no “one size fits all” leadership approach. That’s what makes it so much harder (and rewarding) than managing. We manage things, stuff like budgets, buildings and equipment. None of those things are capable of adding emotions into the mix. Maybe one day a computer will tell you that you’ve hurt it’s feelings by yelling at it but that’s not a problem today. 

It most certainly can be a leadership issue when dealing with people. 

As complicated as Authentic Leadership can be, ineffective, unauthentic leadership is even more complicated. That’s because lesser leaders mess up leadership all the time. It’s easy to do but some lesser leaders seem to go out of their way to make it harder than it needs to be.

One of the biggest mistakes lesser leaders, poor leaders, leaders in name only, or whatever you want to call them make is they treat the people they are supposed to be leading like human speed bumps. 

They throw them under the bus at the first sign of trouble. 

These lesser leaders commonly use words like “fault” “blame” and “screw up.” They have their scapegoats all lined up before a mistake or failure happens. As they get older their index finger becomes crooked from so often pointing it at others. 

Authentic Leaders know that when a team member underperforms there are only two options. The first is that the team member is in the wrong role. The second is that they, the leader, did not give the team member the tools and training needed to be successful. Either way, it’s at least partially on the leader. 

Some of you will strongly disagree with that previous paragraph. You’ll say that you’re not responsible for growing your people. You’re not responsible for their poor attitudes. You’re not responsible for their lack of motivation. You’re not responsible that they can’t understand your directions. 

What you’re really saying when you’re saying those things is that you’re not responsible for anything. You’re saying that you are not an Authentic Leader. When you say those things often enough, people, especially the people you’re responsible for leading, will begin to believe it. 

Throwing your people under the bus is a massive failure of leadership. Not only will you have lost the commitment of the individual you’ve dumped on, the remainder of your team will just be waiting for their turn under the bus. 

You’ll have done that! You WILL be responsible for that, whether you’re willing to accept that responsibility or not. 

Authentic Leaders give most of the credit for success to the people they lead. They also accept a disproportionate amount of the responsibility for any shortcomings that may happen. They earn the commitment of their people by doing that. They minimize the chance of future shortcomings by doing that. They grow their people by modeling successful attitudes and actions. And they never, never, ever, use them as human speed bumps.

The Bubble of Ineffective Leadership 

Steve Keating 3 Comments

One of the challenges of being an ineffective leader is that being ineffective causes you to become even more ineffective over time. There is a definite downward spiral for all ineffective leaders and these ineffective leaders pick up speed on their way down. 

One reason that happens is because ineffective leaders either never knew, or have forgotten, that leadership is about people. They stop communicating on a regular basis with many of the people in their organizations. If they are a leader at the top of the organization their communications are primarily with their top lieutenants. Everything they hear and know is filtered through the lenses of those lieutenants. 

Ineffective leaders in essence “live” in a bubble that ordinary, everyday employees can’t penetrate. These employees can plainly see the bubble from the outside. The devastating thing about living in a bubble is that you can’t see it from the inside. The fact is that most ineffective leaders would tell you there is no such thing as a leadership bubble. That makes it doubly hard for them to escape it. 

They honestly, albeit foolishly, believe they are as plugged in and connected as anyone in the organization. This despite the fact that they may not have spoken face-to-face in the last year, or years, with more than a small handful of those ordinary, everyday people. 

They are comfortable hearing what they want to hear. Delivered from people who are adept at delivering information the way “the boss” wants to hear it. The information is frequently “cleansed” before they ever hear it. 

The challenge for ineffective leaders living in a bubble is that they not know what they don’t know. They also have no idea which of the things they think they “know” just ain’t so. These bubbles form around ineffective leaders over time. They become locked in without ever realizing it happened. 

If these “bubbled up” ineffective leaders ever did break free from their bubble the most likely thing they would hear from their people is “how can leadership be so clueless about what’s going on.” These bubbled up leaders would be shocked. 

Effective Authentic Leaders are aware of the dangers of these bubbles and work to make certain they are never trapped inside one of these formidable barriers. They make themselves highly visible to every member of the organization. They want their information unfiltered. They listen well and not only to the things they want to hear. They listen intently for, and to, the things they don’t want to hear. 

Authentic Leaders “walk slowly through the halls” making sure they are as assessable as they can be. Bubbles can’t form around an Authentic Leader because they allow ALL their people to get close to them. 

If you’re struggling to lead your team it’s very possible that you are in a bubble that you can’t see. Get out of the office and walk slowly around your organization. Talk to as many of your people as you can. Each one of those people are a “pin” poised to burst that bubble around you. 

All of those conversations will be a breath of fresh air, for you AND your entire organization.