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To be a successful leader, it is equally important to know when to say ‘yes,’ as it is when to say ‘no.’ In life, there are times when you have to successfully tell people ‘no’ in a way that builds a relationship even stronger. The challenge is that for some managers, the word ‘no’ is the equivalent of a four letter word. The managers who don’t like the word ‘no’ believe that telling someone a resounding ‘no’ could cause the relationship to deteriorate to the point that others on the team or in the organization will not like or support her as a leader.

A portion of your success as a leader is in telling people ‘no.’ The following are examples where it is most likely in your best interest to tell others ‘no.’

Continue reading “Successfully Saying ‘No’” »

We live in exciting times. The speed of innovation is moving so fast that no one can afford to be complacent. Sitting on the sidelines will guarantee only one thing . . . obsolescence. To keep your business at the forefront, thriving amongst a sea of competitors, you need creative, innovative team members.

Truly creative employees have been described as:

• Self-confident
• Optimistic
• Enthusiastic
• Risk takers
• Uncompromising
• Having an unusual ability to concentrate
• Intensely absorbed in their work
• Comfortable with ambiguity
• Above average in intelligence
• Averse being bossed or policed

Continue reading “5 Tips for Managing Creative Employees” »

From the October 2011 Quest for Leadership Excellence Newsletter (sign up)

For nearly thirty years, executives, managers and employees alike have marveled at Steve Jobs’ ability to innovate. After all, Jobs did not only foresee the future of technology (and music, and animation), he created it. It’s clear that Jobs was one of the most visionary leaders of our times. But, what most people don’t realize is that if it were not for his dedication to communication, the way we interact with technology today would be vastly different. His excitement when introducing new products mesmerized customers. His commitment to specifically communicating what he envisioned motivated employees at all levels and made revolutionary products and services possible.

With poor marketing and ineffective organizational communication, his visions would have remained just that: visions.

Looking at the way that Jobs’ visions were turned into reality serves as a reminder of the importance of communication. The picture he had in his mind for the future was brought to life by his ability to trickle communication of his vision down to all levels within his organizations. It is difficult, if not impossible, for employees to arrive at their destination if you, their boss, are not crystal clear in providing them with the directions and road map detailing their journey.

Steve Jobs’ clear communication of his vision is also consistent with what we have found in our employee opinion survey results.

Continue reading “How to Communicate Your Vision Like Steve Jobs and the Best-of-the-Best” »

As a leader, you have two important goals. First, you need to build relationships where people want to follow you and help you accomplish the mission, vision and goals of your team or organization. Second, you want to develop future leaders.

If building relationships where people were motivated to follow was easy, then every manager would be a leader. Most managers are not leaders. Direct reports do what they are told to do because the manager or boss said to do it. If another job came along somewhere else in the organization, even at the same pay rate, these employees would gladly move because they have no relationship with a leader. One of life’s great leadership examples is when a manager leaves one company, joins another, and then offers that employees from his old organization take a job at the new company for less money than they currently make. When employees make the decision to join their old manager at the new company, is it clear that manager has risen to the status of leader. These employees had a choice to make, and they choose to follow the leader.

Continue reading “How to Communicate When Under Stress” »

You Don’t Always Need a Formal Education to be a Success

Throughout your primary education, how many times were you told that your success in life, or in business at the very least, was tied to going to college? 10? 50? Lost track? Us too. Looking at unemployment statistics, we see that as of July 2011, the unemployment rate for High School graduates was at 9.5%, while the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 4.4%. These figures speak about the importance of a higher education, but don’t necessarily prove that higher education is a prerequisite for great success.

Would you say that Steve Jobs, Rachel Ray, Richard Bronson, Glenn Beck, Mark Zuckerberg, Coco Chanel, Jay Van Andel and Joel Osteen are succesful? Each of the people above has achieved great success in their career without ever graduating from college. And they certainly are not counted in the unemployment rate.

Continue reading “The Great College Myth” »