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10 Leadership Communication Skills of Great Leaders

November 4, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Why study communication skills of great leaders? Well, simply because great communication is one of the major denominators (if not the only one) between social, political, and business leaders across the globe. And since we stress so much on communication skills training for leaders, it is only logical that we take some cues from those in key organizational positions that are performing at what we consider to be a ‘great’ level. Simply put, if you want to excel as a leader in your organization/industry, make sure you have the following 10 key communication skills embedded in your leadership toolbox… Enjoy!

#10 Engage With Your Workforce

As an executive, you may have to send emails and memos to your workforce on a regular basis. But whenever you get the chance, forego corporate communications and engage with dialog with others. When you engage with people in conversation (as compared to monologues), you automatically increase the effectiveness of the message.

#9 Gather Facts Before Taking Action

This follows from the previous leadership communication point. When you engage with your workforce on a regular basis, you will generate honest feedback instead of sanitized versions of the truth. The benefit is that during times of conflict, you will have all the facts needed to thoroughly evaluate the situation. As a result, you will make impartial decisions as compared to executives who are so detached from their subordinates that all they get is one-sided information.

#8 Clarity is King

In today’s corporate world, time is a rare commodity, especially if you are operating in a highly competitive industry, or one that is constantly undergoing change, such as technology. If you need to make split-second decisions and want your employees to be informed of a change in company policy, then just get straight to the point. This is especially true if you are relaying bad news, such as a drop in cash flow. Get some pointers on getting straight to the point from Churchill’s WWII speech: ‘the news from France is very bad….’

#7 Speak Only to Add Value

Improving your leadership communication skills is an essential part of leadership development, but this does not mean that you increase the frequency of speaking to your workforce. Speak only when it’s necessary, and do so only to add to the listener’s experience. Otherwise, people will come to resent your interactions.

#6 Welcome Criticism

This is the true mark of the leader. The leader doesn’t shun or shout down dissenting opinions. Instead, he welcomes as an opportunity to learn more about what people around him are actually thinking. This takes us to the next point…

#5 Listen More

Great leaders know that communication isn’t one-way traffic. There is great wisdom in listening to what others have to contribute to a discussion, even though you may have the final say. In fact, just by the (not so) simple act of listening, you will learn a lot, which is necessary to stay on top of your game.

#4 Body Language and Eye Contact

Communication doesn’t only refer to strong oratory skills. You also have to take non-verbal cues into account, especially body language and eye contact. The way you stand, your hand gestures, and your eye contact with your audience plays a major role in the receptivity of the message.

#3 Body Language of the Audience

Conversely, you also have to pay attention on the body language of the listener. Also try to take cues from his facial expressions to gauge if he truly understands the message.

#2 When you Speak to All, You Speak to None

When your messages are directed to everyone without any specificity, people will have an excuse to avoid personal responsibility. However, since leaders not always have the luxury of dealing with people in one-to-one settings, you should the develop the habit of tailoring your messages in a way that each person in the room feels that you are talking to them.

#1 Know your Material

Finally, if you want to command authority from your listeners, you need know your material really well. Only when you have subject expertise can you get people getting interested in what you have to stay, and this will positively influence the response you get.

Summary

Communication skills are essential if you want to mature as a leader. The job of a C-Suite executive is not an easy one as s/he has to hold their organization together, and this is only possible via robust communication skills.

If you’d like more information about Tip of the Spear’s Business Advisory Services, consisting of Centered Executive Coaching, Leadership Development through ‘The Leadership Challenge’ methodology, and Communication Skills Training for Leaders use the CONTACT US page of this website.

The Future of Executive Coaching – 5 Predictions

November 4, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We love sitting in on round table discussions regarding the future of the coaching industry. Unfortunately, our Tip of the Spear crystal ball is probably more snow-globe-like than perfectly clear, allowing us to see the future in the midst of a contained snowstorm! But here’s what we do know… Leadership coaching is neither a novel concept, nor a passing fad. Couple on top of coaching as a legitimate leadership development tool the instability of the business climate (read that as storm clouds on the proverbial horizon!) As business issues continue to change, there will always be a need for such a fresh approach to leadership development. In this post, we discuss the future of executive coaching with 5 Predictions… Enjoy!

Coaching existed long before Ken Blanchard and Marshall Goldsmith came on the scene. Basically, executive coaching uses key principles to weave together unique solutions for unprecedented situations. As previously stated in ‘The Point’ the following five predictions outline what we at Tip of the Spear see as the future of executive coaching:

Prediction #5: Metrics Matter

While data has always been a core component of leadership decisions, executives now should use data to gain understanding not just for their department and company, but also the industry and economy at large. The creation of dashboards will greatly enhance executive coaching engagements in the future. Important to remember to choose credible sources for your news and insights!

Prediction #4: Choosing Your Biases

Everyone has their own assumptions and biases through which they analyze data and make decisions. Executives should be trained to maintain a healthy balance between their beliefs and actual market data. The leader has to maintain their ground, but then again also needs to be flexible to adapt to changing business needs. Understanding and taking action on your biases as a leader will be key. (HINT: We typically administer a series of behavioral assessments, such as HOGAN).

Prediction #3: Greater Emphasis on Health

Executives, especially CEOs now need to learn to make leadership traits like effective communication and confidence essential components of their personality instead of treating them as hats that can be put on at the office only. This ‘hat on, hat off’ analogy often leaves leaders less than whole.

A greater emphasis of executive coaching will also be placed on the physical health of the executive. Gone are the days when extreme work-a-holism (which involved sleep deprivation and mindless consumption of alcohol and caffeine). As the leader assumes added responsibilities of supporting their teams, they have to take care of their personal health to not only avoid burning out, but also maintain a healthy atmosphere to conduct day-to-day leadership. This includes things like physical fitness, healthy diet and nutrition plan, stress reduction, and rest consumption.

Prediction #2: The Need for In-House Talent Development

While the slogan ‘people are our most important asset’ has been chanted by companies repeatedly in the past, we see a trend strongly moving towards actually making this happen. The leaders of tomorrow have an additional responsibility on their hands, namely to recruit the right people and train them in-house so that they can run the organization in the future. This is all the more true now when the number of workers reaching retirement age is growing and there is a shortage of potentially qualified applicants (Don’t get us started on the atrocity which is Human Resources Recruiting today!)

Prediction #1: The Need for Behavioral Change

Finally, there is no room in the future for executive coaching that doesn’t offer guaranteed changes in behavior and outcomes. Only behavior based coaching allows executives to apply their knowledge to achieve improved outcomes. Not to mention, behavioral change is long-lasting, which is necessary in today’s ever-changing business environment (HINT: We offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee with our Centered Executive Coaching programs!)

Summary

The future of executive coaching is inextricably tied to the changing job descriptions of leaders, namely, the ability to achieve self-development, to lead their teams, to anticipate change, develop strategies to tackle it, and to become coaching in their own right. The future of executive coaching is bright, and should grow even brighter with the proceeding five predictions.

Should Your Leadership Team Receive Executive Coaching?

November 3, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We’ve come to the conclusion a long time ago: Executive coaching for leaders is definitely beneficial. Beneficial for the executive, beneficial for the leadership team, and beneficial for the organization overall. However, while having a leader that has undergone coaching is a crucial leadership development step for the organization, unless coaching reaches all members of the leadership team, we typically see other leading executives find it ‘hard’ to move forward in the face of new challenges. In this post, we discuss the benefits of executive coaching for the entire leadership team… Enjoy!

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Your Leadership Team

Whether it is individual or group training, the job of an executive coach is to first identify where the team stands at the beginning of the engagement sessions. This typically involves identification of the best ‘players’, the leaders with potential for exponential growth, and even the weakest links. If there is something lacking, the coach will immediately suggest remedial action right at the onset so that things start off at the right footing.

Identify Collective Goals for the Team

Just like a sports coach drafts the team and formulates strategies for game-day, the coach will identify some common goals for the team, including those which will serve as motivation for all the leaders to work together. Of course, the coach will rely on the suggestions and feedback of each leader involved in the engagement (including stakeholders), which in itself is a constructive leadership team-building activity.

Constant Improvement

One of the hallmarks of leadership development programs is that executives lose the fear of taking risks and making mistakes. Instead of trying to avoid making mistakes or covering them up, leaders should actually aim to learn from them. But as mentioned at the beginning of this post, why leave the process of learning for the upper echelons of management to chance? A coach for the group allows the leadership team to grow together, collectively learn to reflect on their setbacks, and apply lessons learned to ‘up’ their game with each passing year.

Coaching Makes Team Members Accountable

As people learn to work with collective effort in a team setting with pre-defined expectations, this will typically instill discipline and accountability in the organization. Sometimes, the best organizations barely manage to keep their head above the water due to a lack of accountability. Coaching acts to make leadership team members accountable… Accountable to themselves, accountable to each other, and accountable to their organizational stakeholders.

Coaching Brings Out the Best in People

As you are busy fulfilling your leadership duties in the organization, you may simply not get the chance to gage the individual strengths and weaknesses of their stakeholders. But once the leadership team begins working within a coaching engagement, each member is encouraged and motivated to bring out their best and strive towards reaching their true potential.

Summary

A sports team cannot train, play, and win without the guidance of a coach. In similar vein, the longer you delay implementing an executive coaching program for the leadership team in your company, the more you will keep it from reaching true potential.

10 Executive Coaching Goals for 2015

October 22, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Executive coaching has been doing rounds in the global business community for the past 2-3 decades. Now it has become a billion-dollar industry, with more and more companies hiring executive coaching specialists to mentor their C-suite executives. However, executive coaching is continually evolving as the definition of leadership keeps changing. As we approach 2015, we thought it would be interesting to look at how executive coaching will help leaders in the coming new year… So think of this as a Tip of the Spear “Happy New Year!” (Yes, we realize we’re early!)… Enjoy!

#10 Senior Management Being Trained to Train (and Lead!)

While executive coaching is meant for top tier leaders, in order for its benefits to be reaped by the entire organization, the training should be passed down to employees with potential. In the coming year, we are likely to witness more and more senior managers (after going through executive coaching themselves) directly becoming responsible for identifying, hiring, and developing future leaders in the company.

#9 Better Succession Management

This follows from the previous point of “Trained to Train” in #10. As crucial leadership roles start to be filled by internal candidates, not only does it streamline the success-planning process, but such leaders tend to enjoy better financial performance for their organization’s as well.

#8 Engaging Leaders in Strategic Thinking

A leader should learn to go beyond their own department, and even that of the organization. They should be able to look at the big picture and gain a broader business perspective that takes into account the social, economic, and political factors at play. But more than that, executives should be able to look beyond the short-term day to day business decisions and periodically engage in long-term strategic thinking. This means focusing on the ‘why’ of the business instead of just the ‘what’ and ‘how’.

#7 Active Listening

Some leadership skills remain the same, no matter which era and economic conditions the business is operating in. You may have read about active listening a lot on the Tip of the Spear Ventures’ “The Point!” blog, but even as we head into 2015, active listening remains a much sought after leadership communication skill. Hence, centered executive coaching and leadership development programs should put more emphasis on active listening.

#6 The Art of Thinking

This follows from the previous point. Leaders should not only listen more to the people that they work with, but also encourage them to think creatively and offer their suggestions for unique business issues. This is done by asking open-ended questions, and more importantly, building trust with your team.

#5 Two-Way Communication

Building trust is essential for leaders, especially CEOs and other executives who are hired to lead teams they have not worked with before. One of the best ways to do so is to encourage two-way communication in the workplace (which is how communication should be done in the first place). Leaders who like to maintain an elite distance from their team are likely to find hesitant employees in their midst who never offer their “true” suggestions for key business decisions.

#4 Data-Driven Decisions

While ultimately leaders will make key business decisions based on their experience and intuition, there is a growing need for executives to understand, interpret, and use data to find key business opportunities.

#3 Time Management

Modern leaders are realistic, but their also unrealistic when it comes to the demands of time on their schedules. They know that they don’t possess infinite resources of time and energy. Hence, they need to be trained and execute in time management. They need to identify areas where time is being wasted and use those periods to pursue value-added activities.

#2 Greater Delegation

Collaboration would be a more accurate term. Communication should go beyond active listening and eloquent speaking where you can reap practical benefits of working with a team collectively to meet corporate goals. Trust also plays a major role in delegation as you learn to trust your team, while they learn to respect your authority.

#1 Commanding Authority

Finally and most importantly, true leaders are those who make their presence known through their confidence, body language, and speech, as they communicate in a way that inspires others. Think of it this way, sometimes your actions speak louder than your words!

Summary

To sum up, as we head to a new year, some leadership skills still remain relevant, especially where the executive themselves assumes the role of an executive coach. This should be the foundation of any executive coaching or leadership development initiative.

If you’d like more information on the Centered Executive Coaching programs offered at Tip of the Spear, or any of our other Business Advisory Services including Leadership Development and Communication Skills Training for Leaders, please use the CONTACT US page of this website.

5 Keys to Effective Executive Coaching as a Leader

October 21, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We’ve talked about how as a leader, it’s “lonely at the top.” Well, guess what? If as a leader you attempt to do everything all the time in and of just yourself, your tenure as a leader will be a short one! As the saying goes, “it takes a village” so it goes that it takes a “team” to compete and succeed in today’s economy. Likewise, while a C-Suite executive can undergo personal executive coaching, this alone doesn’t guarantee the success of the company. To achieve that, the executives should assume coaching responsibilities and instill a culture of employee development in the company… In other words, act as an executive coach as a leader. What follows are 5 Keys we’ve identified at Tip of the Spear to help you as a leader develop just such a culture, and coach your way to success… Enjoy!

#5 Build or Bust Trust

It has often been seen in organizations that while employees are willing to learn, this willingness doesn’t automatically make the training process effective. A major issue is a trust barrier between leaders and their employees. If you want to coach in-house talent to occupy future C-suite executive seats (you do have a succession plan, don’t you?), then you have to start building relationships with your key employees. When the employees trust their leader as coach, they will learn more effectively.

#4 Become a Great Listener

As a leader, you may be proficient in reading, writing, and speaking, but now it is time to exercise arguably the greatest of all leadership communication skills: listening. This might entail you shunning your personal judgments and opinions in order to listen actively, paying special attention to the body language of your stakeholder. I know that every leader would like to be Steve Jobs-like, and fire off at the mouth with little regard for their employees, but let’s leave that to Steve…

#3 Continuous Evaluation

One-way instruction doesn’t work when it comes to effective coaching. When you get started, you need to outline the goals for training and also determining how far you are from achieving those goals (Think of it as a form of “gap” analysis you’ll conduct). You have to highlight behavioral changes that you both would like to see in the employee being trained, and then provide feedback from time to time to let them know how well they’re doing.

#2 Asking Powerful Questions

Effective executive coaching teaches people to think in the right direction, or manner. You need to ask your employees the right of kinds of questions to enhance their problem solving skills (Think of these as “powerful” questions). Make sure that these questions are clear and concise (ideally 7 words or less), they should be open-ended, should test the knowledge gained through previous coaching sessions and experience, and they should help the trainee move further towards reaching their goals.

#1 Criticize – Dish and Receive!

Finally, you need to support your stakeholders with active listening and encouraging them by being open to their suggestions. However, you should never withhold your criticism when they are not showing progress (Please pay note to my Steve Jobs-like comments above). However, you have to use constructive criticism, which means you express your opinion honestly without being confrontational. Remember that the stakeholder is being coached to become a future leader where they will have to make their own decisions. So, do rock their boat from time to time and encourage them to use their best judgment to accomplish goals.

Summary

Ultimately, the effectiveness of any coaching program as a leader is judged by results, and these can only be achieved if you follow the aforementioned guidelines when developing a leadership development program. In the end, your work with stakeholders can be dramatically improved by your leadership skills as a leader.

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