Drama Crisis in your Business and in your life?

What happens when a drama hits your business or your life?

Sometimes big stuff happens and we find our selves in a very difficult situation - how do you react? How can you ensure you are in Control, have the Influence and keep your Integrity?

Decide on the Outcome you want and what that will do for you when you succeed at achieving it. Go to a time in the future (say 3 months) when you have achieved it. What will success look like? What will be happening to tell you that everything is ok? What will you see, hear and how will you feel? Be specific.

Now - who can help you? Who do you know that can support you?
What resources do you already have available? Your knowledge, strengths, expertise?
When have you done something similar before? What did you do then?
List as many as you can.

What actions do you need to take now?
What is the Number 1 action that you have to do first?

What could stop you being successful?

Take each one of these points and ask yourself the question - What do I need to do to solve this one?

Picture your Vision of Success and make it happen. Review it daily as things change and be brave standing for your Integrity.
Stop and think before you act!
Don't make others wrong!
Hold yourself accountable
Check yourself!

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The Art of Communication has changed - How do you ensure your Teams communicate effectively?

Communication is changing fast we can hardly keep up with it and yet we can still get it so wrong!

People 'hide' behind emails to deliver  bad news - do you do that. Do you power of an email and regret it later when the backlash is all apparent? Do you rely on email to deliver the news good or bad?

Email, text, twitter are all great when used well but can cause monumental problems when they are used to deliver the wrong message in the wrong way to the wrong people at the wrong time.

So it is not surprising when team relationships break down, when partnerships dissolve, when business and team's fail because of ineffective communication.

Most people avoid confrontation face to face and will do anything to stop that happening. They hide then power off the email to the poor unsuspecting person. They open it  and either fire one back or they wait gather momentum before they retort, cc'ing in everyone, escalating unnecessarily, Either way it does not work.

Teams can avoid this by coming together face to face regularly!
Teams must build the Trust and that is difficult to do once there is a problem between people.
Trust is built by having robust courageous conversations about the problems a team is facing.

Global Teams can use Tele Presence. A Tele Presence Team Session is just as good almost as a face to face. It is proving very successful in transforming teams who cannot meet face to face because of budget limitations.

A few tips;

1 Tell 'them' as soon as possible by phone or face to face.
2 Don't jump to conclusions without speaking
3 Don't send that email - stop and think first.
4 Put the effort in upfront to build the trust
5 Be honest - be open - just talk.

By all means use everything available to us to communicate better - just make sure you do it right!
Great Leaders take the time to communicate in person, face to face with regular telephone calls!

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Great Leaders Stop and Reflect now!

Great Leaders stop now and they reflect on the last year and they ask themselves how did I do?

Career - Think over the Challenges I have had this year.

What did I learn and what could I have done differently?

Did I reach my targets, my goals? If not why not?What could I do differently in 2013?

My Business Partner Relationships - Benchmark them? Who do I need to influence in 2013?

Personal development - What did I learn? How did I stretch myself? What do I want to learn in 2013?

Environment - What Culture do I have around me?  How did I influence the culture and what can I do differently in 2013 to bring a healthier Culture to my team and my business?

Health and Fitness - Am I fit to Lead? How stressed have I been and how did I manage the Stress in 2012. What am I going to do differently in 2013?

Am I living and being my Purpose?
Am I true to my Values?

How have I stopped my self from being the Best I can be? What am I going to do differently to realign, reset and just be me!

Perhaps it is the right time for you to do a check in with you. I know I will.

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Time for yourself is so important as you grow in your role, grow your team and improve your results. Seldom do we give ourselves that time - why not?

Research continues to tell us we cannot 'run on empty' and yet we continue to try. We would not attempt to drive our cars without filling up the tank - so why do we think we can continue putting ourselves at risk?

When did you last have fun at work, with your Team, with your colleagues and yet we know it makes a huge difference to engagement, motivation and achievement.

As we end the year perhaps it is time to do an inventory now - how fulfilled are you?

Benchmark them 1 - 10

Your Career
Your Finances - $/£
Your Health and Fitness
Your Relationships - Friends and family
Your Environment - work and home
Personal Development

What does it look like to you now and what would you like it to look like this time next year?

It will make a difference if you make the time to change what is not working.

Ask yourself the question - What do I want to change - and change it!

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So you do have emotions don't you?

Well Done to Andy Murray for showing us his emotions at last.It's great because at last you have connected with the public Andy.Now you can look us in the eye.More importantly you have connected with yourself and that will mean the difference between success and failure for you. Now we will see how your coaches help you to use that connection to drive you forward to win a Grand Slam. You can do it!

Great Leaders show their emotions! They know themselves from the inside out and are comfortable with who they are and how to communicate it to the outside world. They use every emotion to drive themselves forward when facing the toughest of obstacles. They use their power, their strength and their energy to ensure they succeed.

They know 'what' the emotion is.
They know 'where' it is in their body.
They know 'what' triggers the emotion to be there.
They know 'why' it is there.
They know it has a positive intention for them.
They know in short 'what' it feels like.

Vitally they know 'how' to manage them.

They don't just feel them they use them to drive them.They have high self control - not too much so they are distant and disconnected but enough to influence,connect and show their passion and commitment.They have enough self control so they don't;

Lose their temper
Shout and scream
Rant and rage
Storm out of meetings
Cut you off
Blame everyone else
Cry in meetings

Instead they spend time alone preparing themselves.Understanding their feelings and ensuring they tap into the energy they bring.They focus on success and they motivate themselves to achieve it.
They know that if the feeling is 'fear' or 'anger' then they need to go an exercise, take a walk , take some time to work it through.They remind themselves that over 66% of success is down to their Emotional Intelligence so they welcome their emotions.

Then they connect with you their stakeholders.They can build the empathy and rapport with you because they pay attention to you.The focus is off themselves and on to you.

So enjoy your emotions.They are normal. It is OK to feel them.They are there as a call to action.
They are there to look after you and keep you safe.

So build your EQ now.

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Network Holdings Group Conference

I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Network Holdings Group Conference on 21st March.

The title of my Presentation was ‘It’s up to you if your business succeeds or fails – Transform your team now’.

What a brilliant group of like-minded senior Recruitment Professionals. They were open and eager to learn how they could improve their leadership to survive and thrive in this tough climate.

So what did we talk about? It was to bring my recent book – Transforming Teams alive. Everyone received a copy thanks to Jon Smith, Director so they went back with a coaching tool which will be with them for many years to come.

Where did we start?

I start where I always start - with you! It is up to you, it will be because of you if you succeed or fail. So take ownership now, set yourselves apart and start thinking – what makes you different?

The Recruitment Industry does not have a great reputation so ensure you are different. Build that reputation. Build the trust firstly with your employees because they are the ‘touch point‘ with the candidates and the clients.

You will lead the culture in your business along with your senior team.

You are responsible for inspiring, leading and motivating your teams.

You are responsible for leading, achieving and celebrating great results.

They started by identifying key mentors they had in the past, their greatest leaders who had taught them the most. What was different about that person compared to their worst leader or manager? Values differentiated them. People who were consistent, who supported them, were honest with them - who had integrity and generated great trust and loyalty.

The group then started to think about what their vision of success would look like? Then I coached them through the 7 levels of Leadership Alignment which is in my book. That way everyone can set themselves apart from bad leaders and build greater trust and loyalty from staff, candidates and clients.

We then moved on to Part 2 of the book – Build your Teams and discussed how to avoid the 5 Roadblocks of team/business failure. The key area being to build deep trust with everyone you work with and do business with. One way of doing that is to have robust, clear and courageous conversations so there are no elephants in your office. We moved on to Part 3 of the book - Achieve your Results and I shared how vital it is to focus on the right results, have a clear vision of success and how you are going to get there and to ensure your thinking drives successful behaviours in your business. So if your business is underperforming – know what you want and change your thinking to change the behaviour!

Sounds simple doesn’t it but we all know it is not especially if you know your business is underperforming where do you start?

Start with the end in mind as Stephen Covey says. Your vision of success - create a shared vision with your team/s. Don’t tell them what your vision is – it must be created together so you gain their commitment.

Then have a Cultural Audit done by an external company so you know what the true climate is in your business, be open to know and do something to change it.

As a Member of the IOR Genius Team I was impressed, they listened, they connected and they shared – and they all committed to go back and do something different in their businesses.

So if you want to know more or you have problems in your team or with your clients then contact us..

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Leadership Morality - do you have it?

Well Done Greg Smith, previously an Executive Director, for standing up for Integrity in Leadership. At last someone is courageous and highlighting what is going on inside many organisations today.

The effect on normal intelligent, integral Senior Executives is profound when they are in a toxic culture. It's like a cancer spreading and deepening into the moral fibre of the company. They have little time for a personal life as their leaders expect returns overnight, whilst on holiday and over weekends. Their Global world continues 24/7. This puts huge demands on their physical and emotional health, their personal relationships and it causes huge amounts of long term stress. This can and does happen at the most senior levels in corporate organisations today. If this toxic culture is rewarded then you change the culture very quickly and the cancer spreads.

Of course if you are one of these corporate bullies, it's ok that you survive and perpetuate the behaviour and the culture, but if you are not, if you are an integral leader, then it is a horrendous situation to be in and in the end something breaks. Everyone who is integral must stand for real authentic leadership now or we will have more morally corrupt organisations who fail their people, their clients and their shareholders. Stand Up now - but how?

All senior leaders at the highest levels must stop and be open to assessing the true reality of the culture. Don't ignore what you are hearing, seeing and feeling. It starts with you - you define the culture of the business and so does every single person at senior level. Don't make excuses because it will be because of you that the culture becomes toxic, so take ownership now you can change it.

First Step - start with a Culture Audit. You cannot change the culture unless you know what it is really like. Don't be defensive. Great leaders always listen to their people and their customers first.

Second Step - take ownership for the future vision and values of your business. Words are not enough, they must be visible in the behaviours of senior leaders first. Hold yourselves accountable.

Third Step - cascade this throughout your business, involve the whole organisation, every team and every individual.

Changing the culture takes time, investment, determination and bravery. Do it before you destroy your team, business and your results.

The culture must be in the DNA, the moral fibre, visible in everything you say and do - not just corporate words. They mean nothing if not reflected in the moral fibre and there is no integrity to that kind of leadership. It takes an authentic leader to stand up and be counted and we need them now.

I have met, coached and developed some amazing leaders over my 25 year career. Each one has gone on to maintain their integrity even when times have been tough. As a result they have changed the cultures in their teams, made a stand for integral leadership and have achieved great results in their organisations.

It can be done but you have to be brave, courageous and very determined to stand for what is right.

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