If you’ve read some of our other posts, we focus on six essential keys to building independent, accountable teams at Leader's Cut. They are the abilities to communicate, motivate, delegate, recruit, collaborate, and develop with the talent in your organization. The...
360 Reviews are a pivotal tool for assessing and enhancing the capabilities of individuals in key leadership roles. These comprehensive assessments provide a panoramic view of an individual's performance. Pros of 360 Reviews: They are effective because they solicit...
To be successful, your team must be unified in purpose, committed to execution, and have a clear understanding of their role. In other words, you’re looking to earn their buy-in…
How to Encourage the Attitude of Ownership With Your Team It’s no secret that I cut my teeth in the retail grocery industry business with what was, at the time, the world's most consistently profitable chain, with few equals before or since. I could write at least...
If you have seen Leader’s Cut Six Keys to building Independent Accountable Teams, then you’ll recall that the Fourth Key is Recruit (Communicate, Delegate, Motivate, Recruit, Collaborate, and Develop). Every one of the keys comes together for effective leadership,...
Workplace communication is a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to running a successful business. Things like limited feedback, unclear expectations, and demoralized employees are all examples of poor workplace communication. If you are not aware of how you have been communicating at work, this blog is a resource for you to sharpen up on six professional communication skills that will help you with productive workplace communication.
Mountain Mojo Group is a full-service digital marketing agency located in Flagstaff, Arizona. After three years of rollercoaster revenue and team growth, Austin and Rand decided to see if a business coach could help take their business to the next level.
For those in the professional HR world, they would be the first to say that there are ‘many factors’ weighed when making hiring decisions. The following are some thoughts, suggestions, and alternatives based on work with clients.
Nearly every entrepreneur, owner and executive leader that I work with is concerned about attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent. The fallacy many of us come face-to-face with is twofold: hiring is a continuous process rather than a one-time event when an opening occurs; and a resume that demonstrates a quantity of ‘experience’ will translate into both skill and fit.
You can create a predictable, repeatable process for hiring talent, integrating their genius into your existing team, and tapping into the very best of what they have to offer.
Talent Dynamics is a leading intrapersonal profiling tool used by more than 500,000 leaders and businesspeople around the world to build trust and flow. The Talent Dynamics test was created by Robert James Hamilton and is based on the Chinese I Ching philosophy. This ancient divination text also served as the inspiration for Carl Jung’s personality archetypes developed in the early 20th century.
According to Gallup, only 1 in 10 people possess the talents required to be a great manager. Even those with the natural talent to lead have to work to gain the knowledge and learn the skills that will help them excel in a leadership role. Great managers can help their team go beyond expectations and reach their full potential. Bad managers, on the other hand, hold their teams and employees back. Employee engagement can make or break a business, and research shows that managers account for as much as 70% of employee engagement variances. It’s said that when an employee leaves a company, they’re really leaving their manager. While every employee has their reason for leaving a job, one of the most common complaints among dissatisfied employees is micromanagement.
Nearly every business owner or executive leader that seeks a conversation about coaching with me likely presents a variation on the following theme: what used to deliver results has stopped working. Often they cannot be more specific; they’re troubled by the feeling that something is ‘off’, perhaps the team isn’t ‘jibing’, or they are questioning whether or not they have the right priorities.
No. Ne. Nej. Nee. Non. Nein. Na. No matter what language you speak, it can be surprisingly difficult to say “no.” Whether a new entrepreneur, small business owner, or seasoned executive, learning to be more comfortable saying “no” is a crucial skill to practice and, eventually, master.
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to protect the interests of your employees, customers, and shareholders and uncover and helm any opportunities hiding amid the maelstrom. While it may sound impossible, insightful leaders are often able to guide their businesses through a crisis, so they emerge stronger than before. As former CEO of Intel Andy Grove once observed, “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.” So, how do you turn a crisis into an opportunity? Below are a few of the elements seasoned leaders wield to help them emerge from challenges more robust and more successful than before.
Any elite athlete in any sport, whether team or individual, that has achieved greatness defined as winning championships, competing at an elite level, including the Olympics, and has been rewarded with the accolades that prove their performance, understood the distinction between good and great. Many entrepreneur owners and entrepreneurial-minded corporate executives would like to capture this “lightning in a bottle” to achieve greatness. There are actions you can take to create the foundation for greatness. Keep in mind that inspiration precedes perspiration; to tap into the talent of your entire team, be intentional with the following methods.
In your development as a leader, you’ve learned how to get motivated to work. Unless you’re running a company of one, you’ll eventually need to learn the ins and outs of team motivation, as well.
Successfully leading change is possible when leaders put just as much effort into leading their people as they do in building processes. Leadership and change go hand in hand. For an organization to thrive in our fast-changing world, leaders need to navigate strategic change decisively and lead others through it.
According to the US Small Business Administration, there are 31.7 million small businesses in the US. Within their first year, approximately 20% of small businesses fail, and nearly 50% will shutter their doors within five years. Failure isn’t the only undesirable fate awaiting some owners and entrepreneurs. As successful and failing small businesses settle at either end of the business growth spectrum, many new companies hover in between, stuck in the abyss between failing and thriving. It’s true: entrepreneurship is risky. But nobody launches a business with dreams of stagnation. Much ink is spilled on how to avoid business failure, while far less column space focuses on why small businesses fail to thrive.
SMART goals – do you have them? The importance of goal setting cannot be overemphasized, but do you ever wonder how it is that you set goals and just cannot seem to achieve them? Do you find yourself constantly pushing your goals back or spinning your wheels feeling stuck like you cannot make progress towards your goals?
Take stock of your current goals and assess whether they are SMART goals
Every business would like to be successful by showing great financial results. They would also like their team members to deliver above and beyond their defined role, contributing to their ability rather than simply delivering the requirement. This is where we call out the difference between responsibility and accountability and more importantly, why business owners and leaders ought to care. One will deliver what’s required and defined, while the other has the potential to yield exponential results. Consider this: an elite athlete, whether in an individual or team sport, has a coach; there are zero examples of an athlete winning a championship without a coaching relationship. That said, there are many athletes that play in intermediate or amateur leagues that perform well, yet do not win. Elite businesses incorporate coaching to make the transition from responsibility alone to the mindset and execution of accountability.
We have 24 hours each day (168 hours per week), with an ideal work day of 8 hours per day for five days. How often do you wish you had more hours in a day?! Do you know how to get the most out of every minute of your work day? Effective planning and time management is the backbone of productivity for you and your business. Have you investigated where you are losing time? Do a time audit by tracking time to identify time thieves.
Every business owner and business leader hits a ceiling from time-to-time; in fact it often occurs and recurs over time, wondering how to get motivated. In pre-pandemic times we would normally be focused on finishing the year as we were reaching goals. That may or may not be true in 2020 as so many were forced to pause, change, or completely evolve from what it was in January. The great news is that the same techniques we use to get motivated to work in our current climate will also work in “normal” times when your effort doesn’t yield the results it used to, when you love your work and still seem frustrated, or when you feel like you need a vacation – sometimes on the day after returning home from a vacation.
As 2020 comes to a close and the uncertainty of this year spills over into 2021, it’s no wonder why businesses around the world are working with business coaches to prepare for whatever might happen next. Before you close your books for 2020, take a hard look at your business – where it is, where you want to go, and whether you have a clearly defined roadmap of how to achieve your goals. Working with a small business coach will help you create a plan for 2021 and help you adapt as things come up. With a year of uncertainty behind us and another ahead, having that support will be crucial for the short and long term future of your business. Here are the top 8 reasons to hire a small business coach for 2021.
Many companies are getting their team together and want to make sure that they are united in the effort to move forward in the next month, quarter, and year. Even a global pandemic does not change the forward-looking nature of setting an agenda, inspiring a team, and demonstrating appreciation for both past and future efforts. In fact, many are realizing that unifying in an effort by all rowing in the same direction, could mean the difference between success and failure.
Looking for a quick read on how to enhance the effectiveness of your leadership team? You have come to the right place! My name is Ken Kilday of Leader’s Cut, and I have been helping businesses incorporate leadership training to enhance their team effectiveness for years. Here are my 3 Quick Tips to enhance team effectiveness in your business.
