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The Most Important Leadership Communication Skills Training You Must Have!

August 8, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: At Tip of the Spear, based on our research it is an undisputed fact that when it comes to traits that define a successful leader, communication ranks at the very top! However, communication is itself a vast subject which can further be divided into several skills/subcategories. In this blog post, we discuss why listening is the most important leadership communication skill, and why it should be a core component of every communication skills training for leaders… Enjoy!

Listening Creates A Loyal Workforce

The statistics are alarming. Some 40% of people in the workforce feel unappreciated and undervalued at work. Most of them either look for new jobs, or at least wait for an opportunity to come their way. This has dire consequences for your employee retention efforts. But if listening is emphasized more in communication skills training for leaders, you will be able to reach out to dissatisfied employees in new and meaningful ways, making them see that the company genuinely cares about them.

Listening Provides New Insights

Another key trait of leaders is that they are always learning. This enables them to come up with innovative and creative solutions to new challenges. Listening helps leaders in this respect as well. This is especially true when you actively listen to critics and those who disagree with you. Doing so will broaden your horizons and offer you unique perspectives on unprecedented business issues.

Listening Brings Out the Best in Employees

This leadership development hinges on the first point about employee motivation. As you listen to your team (not just what they say but their body language and general demeanor as well), you will learn more about their strengths and weakness, and you can leverage the former to make them more productive. This will ultimately reflect positively on your bottom-line.

Listening Engages Clients

Active listening isn’t purely restricted to your employees. You should also make it a point to let your clients speak their heart out. Offer them a chance to provide honest feedback on your website and social network. Seep this feedback in and you will better know how to cater to the needs of your target market. This will dramatically improve customer loyalty as they will look at your business as one that values its clients.

Listening Promotes Clarity

In today’s world of instant communication, listening is a lost art. Everyone is busy voicing their opinions, with hardly any message truly seeping in anyone’s mind and making an impact. In such an environment, a leader that speaks less and listens more will automatically become a revolutionary (and often is thought of as saying things that are more important).

Summary

To sum up, communication skills training for leaders is crucial. Listening makes you a better leader when you engage in the art of listening-not to have your opinions validated, but to be challenged and to learn something new. You establish your authority as a leader through listening, and if you don’t believe you have the skill developed as much as you should, consider leadership development training on the topic. Conventional wisdom may dictate that speaking establishes more authority, but then again you are not always right. So stop pretending you know everything and listen more as a leader!

To learn more about improving your communication skills for leaders, visit Tip of the Spear’s Leadership Development program offering “Communicate with Influence” by CLICKING HERE.

The Leadership Challenge: What Makes a Leader Lead?

August 8, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: We have a saying at Tip of the Spear that goes something like this… Leaders Lead! In other words, when it comes time to take on an initiative, as a leader you need to position yourself at the “tip” of the initiative. Learning to lead and adopting a leadership role, is both a responsibility and a challenge in life. Leadership development prepares individuals with a drive and urge to lead from the front… Enjoy!

While implementing leadership development programs to polish and hone the skills in the future leaders, along with a number of other essential factors, the art of leading is given significant importance.

Teaching leaders how to lead can be taught, but the drive and initiative to lead is something which is an innate capability of an individual, which inspires them to perform at their best. The motivating force and the inspiring factor, are unique for every leader, but usually involve some common elements which are found similar in good leaders.

Vision And Purpose

A leader is prompted to lead when they have a unique vision that they want to share with their team members for the benefit of the company. Every leader has a unique concept and ideal vision for the achievement of a goal, and they lead from the front to successfully realize their aspired vision. This could also be a goal/vision shared through the corporate channel (Think how you might be better suited to share the company goals with your team).

A purpose in life is a great driving force which serves as an effective mode of inspiring an individual to adopt a leadership position. When an individual realizes their purpose in life, they are more than willing to lead from the front, and that is how leadership development progresses. (Conant)

Leadership development offers each leader with an opportunity to exercise an initiative and strive for the best.

Leading By Example

Good leaders are also prompted to act and take initiative, if they feel a need to lead their team members by example. The need to lead is prompted by the requirement of a responsible individual, who can inspire and motivate employees to perform at their maximum potential. Notice that I said “responsible individual” and know that you can infer that leadership is not for everyone!

Desire To Serve

Great leaders are also prompted to lead by their desire to serve their people. They utilize their efforts and talents, to provide convenience for their team, help them perform to their maximum potential, and encourage them to seek challenging tasks for their personal development.

Their desire to serve and take care of their team members proves to be the motivating force for them.

Urge To Make A Difference

Many leaders are motivated to lead, through the use of leadership development programs, which inspire and encourage their interest to lead. Development of leadership skills results in the urge to lead and make a difference by utilizing the skills and talents. So why do you do what you do as a leader? Is it fame? Is it glory? Could it be a bigger purpose?

Response To Challenges

Leaders are also inspired to lead when they encounter challenging situations and projects, which prompt them to take the lead and manage their team from the front. A natural and gifted leader acts as a responsible individual, who guides and instructs their team members, understand their limitations and encourage them to perform their best with the challenge at hand. While we’d love to say that all leadership moments happen in the “proactive” moment, we realize that there will be those moments when leaders find themselves/their teams squarely behind the 8-ball of business (or life!)

Leave A Legacy

Many leaders have a desire to leave a legacy which can be a source of inspiration and encouragement for others. Their desire to leave behind something worthwhile, and make a change for the better, prompts them to utilize their passion and talents, and conduct themselves in such a way that fellow workers are motivated to perform at their best. Unfortunately, and we see this way too often at Tip of the Spear, these legacy leaving moments don’t typically occur until a leader has experienced significant time on the job (So later in one’s career).

Summary

So here is the leadership challenge in a nutshell: Leaders need to lead from the front. However, just because you assume this pole-position doesn’t mean that all will be smooth sailing from there. Leadership development brings out and polishes the leadership skills of an individual, thus preparing them for a leadership role, whenever the need arises.

For more information on Tip of the Spear Leadership Development offerings, including our use of The Leadership Challenge, CLICK HERE.

What Superman (or Your Executive Coach) Would Tell You You’re Doing Wrong as a Leader

August 7, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: You’re not Superman… So how can you achieve extraordinary results day-in and day-out? Centered Executive Coaching helps organizations achieve goals and move forward by empowering their leaders. However, even the best coach in the world cannot help you if you are not receptive to constructive criticism. A key trait of leadership is to admit ones own weakness(es). In the following post, we’ll take a look at the key problems that an executive coach may identify in your personality traits as a leader and how you can improve them… Enjoy!

Looking for a Temporary Solution to a Permanent Problem

In the corporate world, some problems are ‘permanent’ in that they keep recurring from time to time. Examples include office politics, financial loss, and external threats like lawsuits and mergers. There is no temporary solution to these problems! However, you can effectively manage them without exacerbating yourself. Only an experienced executive coach can help you understand this distinction so that you are not focusing your energies on unrealizable goals.

Downplaying your Abilities

Following from the previous point, an executive is seldom free from internal or external business pressures. However, some executives make their situation even more complicated with negative self-talk. They start to doubt their abilities and question their very role in the organization. A leadership development and/or executive coach helps you to identify your strengths so that you can leverage them to overcome problems, while identifying issues so that solutions can be sought. Sometimes, all you need is an honest assessment of your skills, which is a core aspect of executive coaching.

Doing a Balancing Act

Nothing strains your capacity as an executive more than the mistake of balancing everything on your shoulders. For example, you simultaneously want to become a better planner, eloquent speaker, and efficient manager, while also trying to improve work-life balance. However, having your focus on several things can easily drain your motivation so much so that you fail to make any progress. Results-oriented executive coaching helps you identify each area that needs development, and then tackle them one-by-one for better results.

Taking your Time and Energy For Granted

This follows from the previous point… Some executives think they are Superman. They have a reservoir of time and energy, due to which they say “Yes” to everyone and take responsibility for virtually everything that happens in their company. This is a crucial mistake! Your executive coach will help you prioritize your task, help you manage your time, and boost your confidence to say “No” and delegate more often.

Summary

To sum-up, there are serious behavioral issues that hinder the success of executives, and thereby their organizations. I’ve seen how leadership development and executive coaching can help leaders understand those areas that need improvement so that they (and their businesses) become more efficient (and profitable!)

To learn more about Tip of the Spear’s Centered Executive Coaching programs, CLICK HERE.

Picking the Best Executive Coaching Initiative

August 6, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: So you’ve decided (or had decided for you) as a leader you should have an executive coaching engagement. In a previous post, we discussed how you should go about selecting the right coach. In this post, we’ll tackle foundational elements that will allow you to head into your coaching initiative so that you achieve your best results… Enjoy!

Now more than ever, business executives are enrolling in leadership development and executive coaching programs. These programs are no longer seen as signs of trouble (a.k.a. Penalty Box situations). Instead, top executives are somewhat expected and encouraged to take professional mentoring as a part of their leadership development at one point or another. As much as 80% of companies hire executive coaches, mentors, or external consultants. In the following paragraphs, you will get helpful tips on how to get the most out of an executive coaching initiative:

Be Clear on What You Want to Achieve

As the economy fluctuates, technology advances, and employees come and go, business leaders face the pressure of providing immediate results in challenging environments. Hence, executive coaching as a form of leadership development becomes somewhat of a necessity. However, you should be clear on your goals (i.e. What you want to achieve from the coaching sessions).

Of course, executive coaching is a highly customized service since challenges change from organization to organization. Your goals could fall somewhere along the lines of understanding your strengths and weakness, redefining your values and purposes, making you a better planner, broadening your perspectives, and maintaining confidentiality for example.

Find a Goal Oriented Coach

While you need to define your expectations, your coach should be goal-oriented, discussing objectives and goals for the sessions early on, and also guiding you in what kind of approach they will follow. For instance, they should clarify whether the focus will be on personal development or organizational planning. Coaches should also let you know what their role will be during the sessions and describe the degree to which they will challenge and stretch you, and what kind of communication they expect from you.

Determine Duration and Medium

Determine which meeting arrangement works best for you; face-to-face, virtual meeting space, phone, email, etc. You also need to discuss how the sessions are planned and connected, and how much time elapses between them. Your coach may assign some ‘homework’ between sessions. While some coaches only communicate with you during sessions, others leave post-session communication open to help you if an important issue arises. It’s important to identify what works best for you.

Be Willing to Learn

Leadership development and executive coaching works best if you’re open to the experience. That is why you/your company is paying thousands of dollars by the hour to invest in your development. You should be honest about your abilities, be patient while being evaluated, and be open to change. You may be a good learner, but you also need to be enthusiastic about the learning process. Learn from others but do it your own way, and take responsibility for whatever happens.

Summary

Ultimately, since it’s you/your organization that matters most during a coaching initiative. You should leverage the skills, experience, and insights of your chosen coach. However, know that the ultimate success/failure of the initiative is dependent upon yourself. Picking the best results oriented executive coaching requires an assessment of your goals, clear communication with the trainer, and the willingness to change.

What You Need to Know to Successfully Launch an Executive Coaching Initiative

August 6, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: More and more companies are realizing the benefits of executive coaching as a way to challenge and develop their top-level talent and leadership. Unfortunately, most executive coaching fails to garner results that organizations want. The underlying reason that many presume behind this trend is the nature of managers and leaders to resist change. At Tip of the Spear, this is exactly what our executive coaches help you with! In the following post, we’ll take a look at the major factors that contribute to the failure of a non-results-oriented executive coaching initiative so that you can avoid them and get maximum benefits… Enjoy!

Goals Are Not Defined

This cannot be stressed enough. Neither the coach, nor the person getting mentored, sets goals and expectations for the coaching programs. Worse yet, no one from the sponsoring organization (if appropriate) is in sync with the coaching initiative to track/monitor either. Without a clear end in mind, not even the best coaching can produce demonstrable change in executive behavior that ultimately boosts organizational outcomes.

Lesson: Defining goals is imperative for success.

Separating the Leader from the Organization

This is also a major reason why even results-oriented executive coaching fails to develop sound leaders. Your coach ignores the fact that the problem you are facing at the organization can also be due to the people who work with you, or even your social network (Think of these as those non-work variables). It is a simple fact of life that we orient our behavior towards other people.

In similar vein, it is necessary to engage other people in the executive team to help the person being coached. This can be difficult if there is a history of politics at the office, but unless everyone is one the same page, centered executive coaching will not work.

Lesson: Social context has to be taken into account during executive coaching.

Open-ended Goals

This follows from the first point. Sometimes executive coaching fails because both the coach and the executive are trying to change all problem areas during a single consultation. This is folly, and rarely successful. When we try to change too much, we end up losing motivation to change at all.

Lesson: Be realistic. Find key areas to be changed, prioritize, and tackle them one by one. That is the only way to make sustainable behavioral changes.

Cult of Personality

Finally and most importantly, executive coaching fails because a “cult of personality” that develops around the coach. The coach is revered as the expert who has a “magic lamp” to solve all organizational problems. The danger of this behavior is that coach will forget that they eventually have to leave and that it is the executive or leader that needs to exhibit these superb problem-solving skills. It has often been seen that once a coaching program ends, the executive is left “without a paddle” as they have been accustomed to learn passively from a ‘guru’.

Lesson: The coach should teach the executive to take matters into her own hands instead of running the show himself.

Summary

To sum up, to successfully launch an executive coaching initiative, you need to have the end goals in mind, integrate social aspects during sessions, and get other members on board as well. You should also look to a coach that will help transfer knowledge of how to mentor/coach future associates as a leader.

To find out more about Tip of the Spear Centered Executive Coaching, CLICK HERE.

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