2013-1 Leadership Winter

LEADERSHIP Winter 2013

Leading vs. Managing

They’re two different animals pp. 4-5

Quiz: Balancing Your Home Life, Work Life, and Free Time pg. 10

Coachin g an Effec : What Makes tive Co ach?

Networ king Tip s Becom ing a Be tter L

by Deve loping Y eader o Counse ling Skills ur

leadership WINTER 2013

A word from your Account Management Team...

For our Winter issue of LEADERSHIP, we highlight some articles that focus on ways to become a more effective leader by highlighting the differences between leaders and managers as well as covering some important ways that you can increase your coaching skills.

As a supervisor or manager, you play a critical role in the success of your organization. If you are finding a problem difficult to deal with at work, such as an employee that isn’t performing optimally, or a conflict in the workplace, remember, you can always call MINES. We’re here to help.

– The Account Management Team

MINES & Associates 10367 West Centennial Road Littleton, Colorado 80127 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com

. . . . . . . . C redits . . . . . . .

Small Business Administration Retrieved from: www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/sba/leadvmanage.htm

Leading vs. Managing - They’re Two Different Animals pp. 4-5 Life Advantages - Author Delvina Mirtemadi ©2013 How to be an Effective Participant in Meetings pg. 6 Coaching: What Makes an Effective Coach pg. 7 Becoming a Better Leader by Developing Your Counseling Skills pg. 8

Quiz: Balancing Your Home Life, Work Life, and Free Time pg. 10 How a Supervisor can Lead an Effective Team pg. 11 www.academictips.org ©2013 www.academictips.org/career/networking_tips.html

Networking Tips pg. 9

ChooseWell

2

Perspectives on Organizational Wellness

From Wellness to Wellbeing

Tune in to discuss what other organizations are doing to improve their members’ health.

Physical Wellness

Occupatio

Stress Reduction?

nal Welln ess

Emotional Wellness

Team Building

Eating Right

Fitness and You

Our 2013 webinar series is focused on how you can create a wellness-driven workforce. This year, our BizPsych team will be hosting four panel-discussion webinars regarding different aspect of wellness. We are inviting our clients, partners, and key stake-holders to share their experiences, perspectives, and highlight how their program sets them apart from other wellness programs. To receive updates, subscribe by emailing us at communications@MINESandAssociates.com.

Broadcast 1: Physical Wellness April TBD 10am - 11am MST

This discussion encompasses nutrition, physical fitness, stress, and how to avoid unhealthy habits like smoking, excessive drinking, and drugs.

Broadcast 2: Occupational Wellness July TBD 10am - 11am MST

Explore the importance and impact of having a culture that promotes having a positive attitude in the workplace. Discover strategies to build a culture that embraces meaningful recognition, practices the art of appreciation and offers ways to support and enrich career development.

Broadcast 3: Emotional Wellness September TBD 10am - 11am MST

How good are you at being aware of your emotions, accepting your feelings or managing your emotions?

Relationships, stress, self-esteem, and life outlook are all factors that play a role in managing our relationship with ourselves and with others in our personal and professional lives. In this session, we will explore ways to enhance your emotional well being.

Broadcast 4: From Wellness to Wellbeing November TBD 10am - 11am MST

How does wellbeing differ from wellness? We’ll explore a few new trends in wellness. You may be even be able to create a huge shift in the overall health of your organization after this! Come learn how to take a pulse on your organization’s current level of wellness and develop a plan to move it to optimal levels of wellbeing.

Think you have something to contribute to one of these webinars? We’d love to hear from you.

Shoot us an email at communications@minesandassociates.com and let us know what you’d like to share.

www.MINESandAssociates.com | 800.873.7138

Leading vs. managing They’re two different animals

Are you a manager or a leader?

Although you may hear these two terms thrown out interchangeably, they are in fact two very different animals – complete with different personalities and world views. By learning whether you are more of a leader or more of a manager, you will gain the insight and self-confidence that comes with knowing more about yourself. The result is greater impact and effectiveness when dealing with others and running your business.

We are going to take a look at the different personality styles of managers versus leaders, the attitudes each have toward goals, their basic conceptions of what work entails, their relationships with others, and their sense of self (or self-identity) and how it develops. Last of all, we will examine leadership development and discover what criteria are necessary for leaders to reach their full potential.

First of all, let’s take a look at the difference in personality styles between a manager and a leader.

Managers - emphasize rationality and control, are

problem-solvers (focusing on goals, resources, organization structures, or people), often ask question such as, “What problems have to be solved, and what are the best ways to achieve results so that people will continue to contribute to this organization?”, are persistent, tough-minded, hardworking, intelligent, analytical, tolerant, and have goodwill toward others.

Leaders - are perceived as brilliant, but sometimes lonely,

achieve control of themselves before they try to control others, can visualize a purpose and generate value in work, and are imaginative, passionate, non-conforming risk-takers.

Managers and leaders have very different attitudes toward goals.

Managers - adopt impersonal, almost passive, attitudes

toward goals, decide upon goals based on necessity instead of desire and are therefore deeply tied to their organization’s culture, and tend to be reactive since they focus on current information.

Leaders - tend to be active since they envision and promote their ideas instead of reacting to current situations, shape ideas instead of responding to them, have a personal orientation toward goals, and provide a vision that alters the way people think about what is desirable, possible, and necessary.

Now let’s look at managers’ and leaders’ conceptions of work.

Managers - view work as an enabling process, establish

strategies and make decisions by combining people and ideas, continually coordinate and balance opposing views, are good at reaching compromises and mediating conflicts between opposing values and perspectives, act to limit choice, and tolerate practical, mundane work because of a strong survival instinct which makes them risk-averse.

Leaders - develop new approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options, first use their vision to excite people and only then develop choices which give those images substance, focus people on shared ideals and raise their expectations, and work from high-risk positions because of strong dislike of mundane work.

Managers and leaders have very different relations with others.

Managers - prefer working with others, report that solitary

activity makes them anxious, are collaborative, maintain a low level of emotional involvement in relationships, attempt to reconcile differences, seek compromises, and establish a

balance of power, relate to people according to the role they play in a sequence of events or in a decision-making process, focus on how things get done, maintain controlled, rational, and equitable structures, and may be viewed by others as inscrutable, detached, and manipulative.

Leaders - maintain inner perceptiveness that they can use

in their relationships with others, relate to people in intuitive, empathetic way, focus on what events and decisions mean to participants, attract strong feelings of identity and difference or of love and hate, and create systems where human relations may be turbulent, intense, and at times even disorganized.

The Self-Identity of managers versus leaders is strongly influenced by their past.

Managers - report that their adjustments to life have been

straightforward and that their lives have been more or less peaceful since birth, have a sense of self as a guide to conduct and attitude which is derived from a feeling of being at home and in harmony with their environment, see themselves as conservators and regulators of an existing order of affairs with which they personally identify and from which they gain rewards, report that their role harmonizes with their ideals of responsibility and duty, perpetuate and strengthen existing institutions, and display a life development process which focuses on socialization. This socialization process prepares them to guide institutions and maintain the existing balance of social relations.

Leaders - reportedly have not had an easy time of it, their lives are marked by a continual struggle to find some sense of order, do not take things for granted and are not satisfied with the status quo, report that their sense of self is derived from a feeling of profound separateness, may work in organizations, but they never belong to them, report that their sense of self is independent of work roles, memberships, or other social indicators of social identity, seek opportunities for change (i.e. technological, political, or ideological), support change, find their purpose is to profoundly alter human, economic, and political relationships, and display a life development process

which focuses on personal mastery. This process compels them to struggle for psychological and social change.

Development of Leadership As you can see, managers and leaders are very different animals. It is important to remember that there are definite strengths and weaknesses in both types of individuals. Managers are very good at maintaining the status quo and adding stability and order to our culture.

However, they may not be as good at instigating change and envisioning the future. On the other hand, leaders are very good at stirring people’s emotions, raising their expectations, and taking them in new directions (both good and bad). However, like artists and other gifted people, leaders often suffer from neuroses and have a tendency toward self-absorption and preoccupation.

If you are planning on owning your own business, you must develop management skills, whether they come naturally or not. However, what do you do if you believe you are, in fact, a leader - a diamond in the rough? What can you do to develop as a leader? Throughout history, it has been shown again and again that leaders have needed strong one-on-one relationships with teachers whose strengths lie in cultivating talent in order to reach their full potential. If you think you are a leader at heart, find a teacher that you admire - someone who you can connect with and who can help you develop your natural talents and interests. Whether you reach glory status or not, you will grow in ways you never even imagined.

Isn’t that what life is about anyway? M

How to be an Effective Participant in Meetings

The key to a productive meeting is productive participants.

It’s important that you always attend a meeting well-prepared so you can participate when appropriate and know how to follow-up with meeting leaders. Follow the tips below to help you before, during, and after a meeting.

Before the Meeting

By preparing for a meeting, you can help contribute to productive discussion and be a valuable meeting participant. Follow the guidelines below to see what you should do in advance: • Tell the meeting leader you’ll be attending, and ask him or her if you can have a copy of the agenda. This will help you identify the purpose of the meeting, so you can go in prepared and confident.

• Know how to get to the location and get there on time.

• Find out what your purpose is at the meeting and get materials ready in advance. This can include putting together notes, studying proposals or charts, or drawing up diagrams.

During the Meeting

While you’re in the meeting, contribute with useful comments and questions, and help others do the same: • Speak up when you have something of value to say.

• Address the items on task. However tempting, don’t mention items that aren’t part of the meeting agenda.

• If you’ve prepared notes ahead of time, use them, and also take well-organized notes of what is being discussed.

• Treat others with respect and listen to their ideas. Take time to think about what others are saying, instead of judging or criticizing too quickly.

• Ask questions when you need to. Don’t be afraid to look silly if you don’t understand something.

After the Meeting

When the meeting is over, you can still be a productive participant. Review what has happened, and follow these key points: • Talk to the meeting leader. Tell them what went well or what could be more effective next time.

• If you were delegated job duties in the meeting, make sure to attend to them. Keep your supervisor posted on your progress.

• Think about your behavior in the meeting. Were you productive? Could you be more productive? See what improvements you can make and go for them. M

6 Leadership Winter 2013

Coaching: What Makes an Effective Coach?

As a manager, supervisor, or team leader, you probably have valuable experience that can be shared with your co-workers to create a more effective team. But experience alone won’t make you an effective coach. Below is a list of other tips and techniques that are important for you to learn in order to mentor and support your team well: Recognize and develop your employees’ strengths.

Ask for ideas and listen to what your team members share.

Look at your employees as partners who drive the success of your organization.

Give your employees recognition when they succeed.

Set and model workplace performance.

Hold your team members accountable when they don’t meet organizational expectations.

Remind everyone of their roles and responsibilities.

Provide training opportunities and additional support programs.

Give your team members the room to do their jobs.

Define priorities and expectations for each employee.

Understand that you’re a role model and can positively and negatively influence the workplace.

Keep things said to you in confidence, except when such information is illegal.

Give clear reasons behind your decisions.

Provide notice to your employees in advance of the changes that are coming in your company.

Set meetings to discuss workplace performance with each team member.

Do your part to protect employees from harmful, on-thejob stress.

Encourage your employees when they feel overwhelmed by, or lost in, their work.

Build trust with your team members at every opportunity.

M

Winter 2013 Leadership 7

Becoming a Better Leader

by Developing Your Counseling Skills Counselors have a unique skill when it comes to listening to others and helping them make decisions without ever having to tell them directly what they should do. By fine-tuning your counseling skills, you will be better able to connect with your subordinate employees and help create a positive and productive team.

When employees don’t feel understood or cared for, the work environment suffers. Follow the tips and techniques below and you will learn to communicate and listen to your colleagues so your group can flourish.

Effective counselors: • Listen to and take employees’ feelings seriously, even when the issue at hand seems miniscule or small.

• Try to increase the self-esteem of the individuals around you. This includes supporting and building up employees who may feel unsure of themselves or insecure in the group.

• Ask employees for feedback. What do group members think about a project, or feel about a certain task? Effective counselors gather feelings, ideas, and answers to problems from others. In addition to showing that the leader cares, this can give the supervisor guidance on how to lead the group, and maybe illuminate solutions that the leader didn’t have before.

• Demonstrate patience, respect, and care for colleagues. They also keep confidences with those who have talked about private matters.

• Allow for open discussion (where employees are given full attention) and don’t monopolize conversation or act like the expert.

• Divide out tasks to group members so that they may make decisions.

This will show employees that they are trusted and can solve their own problems.

• Give out work after considering each employee’s skills, values, likes, dislikes, and goals.

• Listen to complaints and don’t be quick to pass judgment. Then take time to reflect before responding.

• Have a sense of humor.

• Show understanding to what co-workers are going through in their personal lives.

• Understand when mistakes arise. Then support and encourage rather than yell and belittle.

You probably already have certain characteristics of an effective counselor, but there may be other traits that you want to further develop. Pick some items out of this list, and work on addressing one or two a week. Take time to review this list regularly and reevaluate how you are doing as a counselor, as well as a leader. M

8 Leadership Winter 2013

1. Be a name dropper. If you are interested in gaining entrée to a person at a company you’ve targeted, be sure to find someone who will pave the way for you. We know a true story of a man who had his sights on a growing telecommunications company. When he saw them advertise the job of his dreams, he tapped his contact network for someone who would handdeliver his resume to the hiring manager. He beat out those even well-qualified in the stack of resumes piled on the manager’s desk. “Why should I waste my time digging through these credentials when I have the perfect candidate in front of me?” the employer asked.

Networking Tips For more than 25 years, job search experts have been advocating networking strategies to tap the hidden job market to find the best jobs. Job seekers who try this alternative to answering ads or contacting recruiters often experience disappointing results and give up before they’ve really begun networking in earnest. Networking is both an art and a science. Use these tactics to find the job you want:

2. Plan for your meetings. Do your homework. Find out all you can about the company, the industry, and the person who has agreed to give you 20 - 30 minutes of his time.

Consider what you want out of the meeting. Are you there to brainstorm about how someone with your background could add value to this organization or others in the field? Would you like to come away from the meeting with new companies or industries to target? Are you looking for referrals to other people in that same company? In the community?

3. Show the right stuff. Look for ways to show how your mind works rather than just telling about your past or your future plans. Try to get the conversation focused on problems that need solving or unmet needs that must be addressed. Demonstrate there in the meeting the value you could add. This could help you be seen as a potential hire or make you more appealing as someone to refer on to other colleagues.

4. Gift your networking companion. “Pay the person back” for his or her time.

Is there something you can give back in exchange, so that the person can actually be grateful the meeting took place? Is there information you have that would help this person excel on the job? Something to enrich his or her life?

5. Mark your spot on the Job Development Timeline. Some people are reluctant to visit a company unless there is an actual job opening advertised. But jobs don’t develop out of thin air. Long before a job description is created there is a mountain of work that is not getting done. If you step into the picture early enough in the process, there will be no need to advertise a job opening. You’ll be the sole candidate considered. This is especially true of small to medium companies. And that is where all the job growth occurs today anyway!

6. Commit to meeting two people a day. The more visible you are, the more job opportunities will come to your attention. Set up meetings with friends, industry leaders, referrals, or potential employers. Two people a day would mean 10 a week, 40 a month. The more actively involved you become with this process the better your chances of landing the job you want. And remember, while face-to-face meetings have great power, it is also possible to conduct your meetings via phone and email, especially if you are trying to relocate.

7. Ask powerful questions. Truly engage your networking partner. Wow him or her with questions that show what you know. Don’t do all the talking. Spend a considerable amount of time listening carefully. Each meeting you have, could be seen as a tennis game, with you taking your turn serving and receiving.

8. Look the part. Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage.” Take note of what people in your industry or level of achievement are wearing and dress appropriately. Be sure your clothes are spotless, fray-less, and fit you well. Don’t smell of cigarette smoke or heavy perfume or cologne. Get a manicure. Wash behind your ears.

9. Find reasons to return. We know a man who targeted a large company and networked with 21 different people within the organization until he was hired. After your networking meeting, be sure to, at the very least, write a thank you letter. Ask the other person if they would like you to keep them updated periodically on your job search efforts. If this is the company of your dreams, consider writing and sending a proposal that addresses the needs you believe you could meet to improve the bottom line.

10. Don’t expect a marriage proposal on the first date. Networking can be compared to dating. After all, this is the first time you and your companion have met. Don’t think of your meeting as a failure if you leave without a job offer. After all, your purpose in being there was information exchange. Relationships occur over time. Keep this person’s name in your tickler file and become creative about additional reasons to meet - if there is more information to gain here or you think the situation could ultimately lead to a job. Demonstrate your enthusiasm, but don’t kill your chances by seeming too hungry or needy. M

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Quiz

Balancing Your Home Life, Work Life, and Free Time

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Despite the ongoing quest for work-life balance, many of us struggle to understand what this concept actually means. By definition, balance often implies that all parts are proportional or of equal strength in order to create stability. However, this would mean that everyone would have to make each part of his or her life equal to every other part in order to feel a sense of balance. For example, if a person loves to run and does so every day, then by this definition, the person would study, socialize, and work for an equal amount of time that day. But this isn’t really feasible, nor is it what people mean when they say they want to live a balanced life.

Tally up how many “Yes’s” and “No’s” you have. YES = __ No = __

If you answered “No” to more than three of these questions, then this quiz has identified areas where you can improve.

So then, what does it mean to be balanced, especially in the chaos of being a wife, husband, father, mother, friend, employee, or employer?

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Take a careful look and think about how you can spend the next week focusing on these specific areas in your life.

The truth is we could all use a little help defining what balance looks and feels like in our lives. It may be different than your parents, your friends, or your significant other.

What’s important is that you find a balance that allows you to feel both happiness and accomplishment at the end of each day.

Home Life

1. Does your family feel that you spend enough time with them?

2. Are family meetings (to discuss errands, chores, problems, etc.) a routine in your household?

3. Do you connect with family members about household responsibilities in a constructive way?

4. Do you prepare for meals, trips, and other family occasions ahead of time?

Work Life

1. Have you considered long-term career goals or where you want your career to take you?

2. Can you adequately handle your assigned work duties?

3. Can you complete your job during the hours you spend at your job?

4. Are you and your family comfortably supported by the amount of money you make?

1. Do you partake in a regular exercise program (bike riding, going to fitness classes, attending a gym)?

2. Do you take time off for you (for instance, taking a vacation within the past year)?

3. Are you active in developing interests like painting, playing a musical instrument, or furthering your education?

4. Some of us may feel guilty if we aren’t spending this free time with loved ones. When you take time for yourself (like taking a bath or reading a book) do you feel it’s acceptable?

Yes / No

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Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No

Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No

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Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No

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The ultimate goal is to find your inner balance by ending each day feeling complete, feeling as though you accomplished what you set out to do that day and enjoyed it. M

Take this quiz to get started and help identify how well you are balancing your personal, school, work, and private time. Answer yes or no to each of the following questions:

Free Time

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How a Supervisor Can Lead an Effective Team By focusing on these four key areas, a supervisor works as a team leader to build a strong, productive group:

Support A supervisor supports the team by recognizing individual and group performance, bringing in additional support from upper management when needed.

Questions about other teams can help highlight and invite healthy discussion about individual team members’ strengths.

Interaction Promoting social interaction among team members can help create valuable relationships and better communication within the group.

Through connecting, members can see the value of one another, which leads to a better ability to work as a team. Scheduling after-work outings and team building events are good ways to generate member interaction.

Goals Goals help keep the team on task. When a team leader encourages team-wide focus on a goal, the team’s productivity is enhanced. Team members should be present when goals are made, and encouraged to ask questions about goals.

Accomplishment By providing proper tools, work environments, scheduling, task allotment, and other methods geared to goal achievement, a supervisor can make sure that a group accomplishes what they set out to do. Good relationships with other groups can also support accomplishment; therefore it is essential for groups to have effective communication with one another.

When a team leader demonstrates a commitment to these four values, team members follow suit.

A team then accomplishes greater goals than individuals could alone. M

Winter 2013 Leadership 11

A note to Supervisors...

From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to respond to a particular behavior.

The Employee Assistance Program is available on a 24/7 basis for consultation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.

• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding problems in the workplace

• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job • Return-to-Duty conferences

• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies

• Supervisor and Manager training

• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals

• Coaching for management and leadership skills

• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems

MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource.

Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.

The MINES Team

Questions? Reach us at 800.873.7138 | www.MINESandAssociates.com