Baker Coaching

2012-01-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

How do you get 2012 off to a Great Start?

Seven questions to review your year, acknowledge yourself and help you to get 2012 off to a great start. Write all your answers down, don't keep them in your head.

What was your biggest challenge in 2011?
What qualities did you draw upon to meet this challenge?
What have your achievements been this year?
What are you most proud of?
Which project or commitment could you let go of in order to release energy and time to spend on something more rewarding in 2012?
Which people do you most value in your life and how can you spend more time with them in 2012?
What is your greatest learning from 2011?
In 10 years time, how do you want to remember 2012 - it was the year you did what?

And before I sign off, one last question for you to ponder....

What could you achieve if you had an extra hour each day in 2012? One hour extra equates to almost an extra work day per week....just imagine what would you do with this extra time?

Join me on 1st February in my complimentary webinar on How to Discover your Perfect Career

What Do You Want in 2012?

2012-01-05T03:15:00.000-08:00

1. Appreciate your Achievements

Think back over the whole of 2011 and make a list of absolutely everything you achieved.

This is supposed to be a LONG list so include everything - large and small.

I love this exercise. We so often forget what we've achieved and - perverse creatures that we are - seem to prefer to focus on all the things we haven't managed to do.

It's really important to acknowledge your successes on a regular basis. Write them down.

2. Your Vision for 2012

For this exercise you are going to look forward to the end of this new year.

Imagine that 2012 is drawing to a close and you are really satisfied with all the elements of your life. You've made all the changes you wanted and have achieved everything you set out to do.

What would that look like?

Write a description of your life as you'd like it to look like at the end of 2012. It's important to write in the present tense, as if it has already happened, and try to be as specific as possible.

How would you really like things to be for you in your life with your career, your health & lifestyle, your relationships and with your finances?

If you don't enjoy writing you could put together a visual representation instead - either by drawing or painting it yourself or cutting pictures and words out of magazines. You can be as creative as you like - some people include their partners or even the whole family in this exercise to create a 'family vision' of what they want to achieve in the coming year.

It's amazing how powerful this exercise can be. I often ask new clients to do this task - describing how their life will look when they have made all the changes they desire. It's so affirming for them to be able to look back at their description months later and to see - in black and white - that they've done all they set out to do.

I wish you a very happy and successful 2012.

Jennifer

Join me on February 1st in my complimentary webinar on How to Discover Your Perfect Career

Influencing Your Boss

2011-04-19T23:33:00.000-07:00

Although there are other important people in your work life, your boss is special because he or she is both an evaluator of your performance and the main source of the resources and rewards you seek. Your boss may also be the key to your career advancement.

Being able to influence your boss is critically important to your success as an employee. The extent to which you can influence that person will go a long way to determining:

The level of resources you'll have available
The opportunities you'll have for career growth
The degree of autonomy you'll be given
Your financial rewards

Mutual success
If your boss trusts and has confidence in you, he or she will welcome your participation in planning and decision making, which will give you a major level of control over your life at work. In contrast, having no influence will reduce you to being an order taker—a person who simply does what he or she is told.

Influence with one's boss is based on a relationship in which the boss:

Trusts you
Likes you
Perceives you as similar in some ways to him or her
Believes you have good and accurate information to share
Depends on you to complement his or her strengths
Is persuaded by your reasoning
Considers you reliable and competent
Recognizes an obligation to you for valued favors
Believes you are working hard on the things that matter most to him or her

Tips to help you gain more influence with your boss:

Make sure your boss knows he or she can trust you
Trust is important in any relationship, especially if you want to exercise influence. But trust is absolutely critical in your relationship with your boss. Your boss looks to you to accomplish your departmental objectives, thereby making him or her look good. More than that, your boss needs to know that you will always tell the whole truth, the good news and the bad. There must be no unpleasant surprises, especially public ones! Your boss will not trust you if you violate the chain of command and go around him or her to confer with his or her superior without first clearing it.
Focus on what’s important to your boss
The starting point of an influential relationship with your boss is a clear understanding of your boss's goals and priorities, workplace concerns, and the pressures he or she is feeling. These are the matters that absorb your boss's attention and, in some cases, create anxiety. If you can accurately answer the following questions, you'll be able to recognize things you can do to help your boss:
—What are your boss's goals and priorities?
—What knotty problem is he or she struggling with?
—What pressure, if any, is higher management putting on your boss?
—What accomplishment would make your boss a hero in the eyes of senior management?
—What kind of relationship does your boss have with his or her immediate superior? Is it tense? Collegial? Subservient?

Adapt to your boss’s work style

Every boss has a preferred style for doing his or her work and dealing with subordinates like you. Do you know what that style is? If you learn your boss's preferences and adapt to them, your relationship will proceed smoothly and you'll be in a position to project influence. Work style covers a number of areas:

Information Preferences. Most bosses want to know about progress against deadlines, problems with important customers, new expenditures and revenue projections that may affect budget projections, and so forth. Talk to your superior about the specific matters on which he or she needs to be kept posted. You want to provide what is needed but not overload your boss with too much information.

Information Format. Some managers prefer a short, verbal report: “In a nutshell, tell me the current status of __.” Others want written reports with plenty of supporting data. Be careful using e-mail to inform your boss of key information unless he or she has requested it; many busy executives are woefully behind on checking their e-mails.

Time Demands. How much time is your boss willing to give you? The typical subordinate wants more time with the boss than he or she is currently getting, but your boss may have other ideas. To maintain a good relationship, find a proper balance between your need for face time and your boss's ability or inclination to provide it.

Decision Making. Managers spend a significant percentage of their time making decisions. Some are little ones: “What's the best time to schedule this year's performance appraisals?” Others are big ones: “Should we invest $13.5 million in a new enterprise software system or continue with the current system—or seek a third alternative?” Your boss's decision process represents a potential portal for your influence. A sound decision process involves five steps, each of which represents an opportunity for you to contribute:
1. Defining the problem or issue and its context
2. Creating a set of feasible alternatives
3. Objectively analyzing the alternatives
4. Choosing the best alternative
5. Implementing the decision

How to lose influence with your boss
In tennis, amateur players generally defeat themselves by making mistakes: repeatedly hitting the ball out of bounds or into the net. People who seek to establish influence with their managers likewise defeat themselves by doing dumb things, such as the following:

Being a habitual bargainer when assignments are given. Don't be a “What can you do for me?” person. Your boss will perceive dealings with you as a series of contests—for which he or she doesn't have time.
Upstaging. Yes, it's nice to shine, but your job is to make your boss look good. Don't steal your boss's thunder—it will only create resentment and make you seem like a rival, not a trustworthy supporter.
Self-promoting. It's fine to be ambitious, but instead of lobbying for attention or advancement, earn both through good work.
Failing to check in. Keep your boss informed, even if it's only a quick update at the end of the day. Failure to inform will reduce trust in you.

Your boss has a tough job. The typical manager's day is fragmented with phone calls, meetings, people problems, and many fires to put out. There's seldom time to sit quietly, make plans, and think through the many decisions that must be made. The more order and support you can contribute to this chaotic situation, the greater the influence you will have.

© 2011 American Management Association. All rights reserved. This article is adapted from Increase Your Influence at Work, by Perry McIntosh and Richard A. Luecke. Published by AMACOM, a division of American Management Association.

About the Author(s)

Perry McIntosh and Richard A. Luecke Perry McIntosh has over 15 years of management experience at mid- and senior levels. Richard A. Luecke is a business writer and cowriter of the second edition of How to Become a Better Negotiator. Together, they are coauthors of The Busy Manager’s Guide to Delegation and Increase Your Influence at Work, from which this article is excerpted.

Manager on my Tombstone ?

2010-12-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

Following on from the Leadership and Jazz piece, LIW's CEO Pia Lee explores the importance of purpose in business.

"Most people live lives of silent, screaming desperation, doing jobs they hate, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like." This cheerful quote comes from Nigel Marsh's funny and moving talk on Work-Life Balance at TEDx in Sydney this year. However depressing it sounds, there is a ring of truth to it, isn't there? While the West's obsession with possession will have to be the subject of another article, it is clear that there's so much more that organisations can do to fulfil the working lives of their employees.

We devote the majority of our waking moments to work and yet we would all laugh if our loved ones chiselled 'Manager' on our tombstone as a fitting epitaph. Surely there is a moral obligation for leaders to provide jobs to people in which they flourish, rather than scream? It also seems logical that the organisations who do will be better at attracting and retaining talent and so have an edge on those that don't.

"We devote the majority of our waking moments to work and yet we would all laugh if our loved ones chiselled 'Manager' on our tombstone as a fitting epitaph."

The pessimistic theme of unfulfilling work was reinforced in a recent Schumpeter article in The Economist that considers the trend for companies to offer psychological wellness assessments in addition to the traditional physical check-ups. However, Schumpeter misses the biggest question of all: why do organisations feel in some way responsible for the mental imbalance of their employees? Lurking behind this movement is the unspoken belief that employers are in some way responsible for causing mental health issues among their employees. This is the corporate equivalent of choosing a high-fat diet but being diligent about taking aspirin to avoid heart-health problems. Employers need to be a whole lot more proactive and get to the root of the problem. But what is it?

A new book ‘Zilch’ by Nancy Lublin points to the answer. Lublin debunks the most prevalent myth in business today — that salary drives performance and productivity. She proposes that companies broaden their rewards and their understanding of compensation so that people become deeply motivated to excel. A key learning that Lublin brings from the not-for-profit sector is that these organisations have a clear purpose that is shared by its employees. Does this imply that purpose is the sole domain of organisations with an altruistic philosophy? Not so, as the seminal research conducted by Professors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in 'Good to Great' and 'Built to Last testifies. High performing organisations have a unique blend of core purpose and values as well as the 'and' factor of being able to endlessly adapt their strategy and direction to a changing landscape. This rich combination provides meaning for individuals beyond making money which in turn unlocks discretionary effort.

It's a courageous organisation that asks not just what are they trying to achieve but 'why'? It's also an evolved organisation that asks what its legacy will be. It's the forward thinking organisation that creates the right climate for a motivated employee who sees their career aligned to a purpose bigger than themselves. 'Screaming desperation' now gives way to 'roaring fulfilment'.

Don't fall into the trap of seeing this as a marketing opportunity – an organisation's purpose cannot be window-dressing. Whilst it is a powerful motivator it is also a perishable good and can very easily be destroyed by misaligned behaviour. Who would say that BP stands for Beyond Petroleum now? (This question posted on Twitter came up with 'Broken Pipe', 'Be Prepared' and even 'Bastards Playing', among others). On the other hand, organisations that keep their purpose close to hand, such as Johnson & Johnson (whose credo, written in 1943, embodies purpose as well as values) can weather storms by walking the talk. J&J is applying the credo in decision making around its current Tylenol recall woes and we just know that they will come out the other side with their reputation intact and their customers and employees engaged.

"It's a courageous organisation that asks not just what are they trying to achieve but 'why'? It's also an evolved organisation that asks what its legacy will be."

So what steps can a leader take to bring the power of purpose into their organisations. Having achieved this with many organisations it is, like most leadership tasks, simple but not easy. Getting the top team up to speed on this thinking is a good start – the publications referenced here will be a good start. There is a simple exercise that will get the creative juices flowing: divide your top team into two or three groups and tell them that the organisation is to be closed down. They have one minute to explain to the government why they should be allowed to stay in business. Capture the key ideas and craft a simple statement that embodies them. It should not be a goal as the purpose is never achieved: Disney's 'to make people happy' is an example of this. Now comes the not easy part – the leaders should use this in all their communications and decision making. Everything that is done and indeed, the leaders themselves, are there only to serve the purpose.

To close, consider this: purpose is growing, not diminishing in importance. Generation Y and their successors will not put up with a toxic workplace. They expect more. We, the greying victims of the 'screaming desperation' era, have raised them to do so. They want to work in organisations that have a clear sense of why they exist and will choose them because they are aligned with that purpose. It is in these conditions that people give not just the most, they also give their best. This is good not just for the employee but for the employer and the shareholder too. For leaders, this is the opportunity to leave a greater legacy and even to earn a more inspiring epitaph.

Pia Lee is the CEO of global leadership consultancy, LIW. Pia blogs at www.liw3.wordpress.com. LIW’s company website is www.liw3.com where you will find the blog and also a number of other leadership resources and articles

More than 3 Careers in Lifetime

2010-11-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

British workers are likely to change careers "two or three" times over their working life, the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has suggested.

By Jennifer Churchill, www.i-l-m.com

Rachel Krys, campaign director for the EFA, said that because people will have to work for longer, they will be more likely to try different career options.

"Employers are going to be faced with many more people in their 50s who are not looking to wind down but are actually looking to retrain and have a whole new career that might have to last them 20 years, because they are going to have to work for that long," she said.

Her comments follow a survey by LV= last week which shows that 2.7 million UK over 50s believe they will keep working beyond the state retirement age, while research from Kelly Services recently found that 64 per cent of people expect they will change careers at some point in their working life.

How are you learning what's important to your staff?

2010-10-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

by Trudy Triner

As all corporate trainers know, there are very few leadership training activities that have an absolutely predictable outcome. But as I traveled around the world for a large Boston-based training and consulting organization, there was one activity that did. I referred to this activity as a "thrilling" experience as I introduced it to groups in France, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Hawaii. In truth, it was probably more thrilling for me to watch than for them to participate. But the learning was always profound, if sometimes frustrating and even a tad annoying.

Here's the activity. A class is divided into two groups: one is Management, the other is Staff. They are told that, working together, they must solve a physical challenge. That challenge requires Staff to complete a series of physical moves with their bodies, much like a Chinese checkers game. However, only Management is given complete instructions for the task. The two teams are in separate rooms. Only one person from Management can enter Staff's room at a time. And the activity begins.

Here's what happens time and time again. Management works diligently to solve the problem on paper in their room. They sweat. They try options. They even try moving pieces of paper or sugar packets or pencils to represent the Staff. Meanwhile Staff members wait and wait and wait. They begin to conclude that Management is trying to trick them or make fools of them. As time goes on, they begin to get angry. They disengage. Some start to read the newspaper. Others plot revenge and vow to do nothing Management asks. When a Management person finally appears, they usually have paper and pencil in hand, scribble a few notes, totally focus on the task, ignoring the people, and retreat to share their findings with their Management team as they continue to struggle to solve the problem. And so it goes, most often until the allocated time expires. The problem remains unsolved. Staff is frustrated and sometimes angry. The debrief is rich, but often emotion-laden. "Why did you treat us so badly?" Staff will ask. "We were just busy trying to solve the problem," Management says – truly surprised, and somewhat hurt, that their efforts weren't more appreciated.

The secret to success in this exercise, which is almost never discovered, is for Management simply to explain the problem to the Staff and ask for their help in solving it. Staff members become intrigued. They become engaged. They try alternative moves with their bodies and within a few minutes, they solve the problem. They are proud. Management is impressed and relieved. Everyone wins. And it almost never, ever happens!

I was reminded of this activity and its vivid demonstration of the futility of management trying to solve important problems without engaging staff when our Senior Leadership team asked for a training program that would help managers understand the need to engage employees in solving some of the most important challenges in our health-care organization. They wisely understood that without that engagement, it would be very difficult to meet the challenges in store for health care in the coming years.

We partnered with Richard Axelrod, co-author of You Don't Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done, and designed a half-day program for our 650 leaders, managers, and supervisors. We called the program, Engaging Staff to Lead, believing that the ideal was to have staff become so involved, they actually led the improvement effort themselves. And it worked. We saw dramatic improvements in service scores and other important metrics.

After the training effort, the coaching and reinforcement began. During coaching sessions with managers who might be having trouble with staff engagement, I asked them, "How are you learning what's important to your staff?" "How are you supporting them in reaching their goals?" "What do you do to demonstrate your understanding of the world from their point of view?" "How are you demonstrating your appreciation for their efforts?" "Are you providing as much feedback as they feel they deserve?" And, "Are you providing a motivating challenge and empowering them to solve their own problems?"

A light bulb often goes off as managers answer these questions because these are the types of management behaviors that lead to staff engagement. I love those forehead-slapping moments when they realize they've neglected one or more of those elements of engagement. And they love walking away with a plan to engage their staff more fully and avoid all the negative ramifications of leaving staff standing in a room waiting for management to solve all the problems in another room. That is truly a lose-lose situation to be avoided at all cost.

References

Axelrod, R. H., Axelrod, E. M., Beedon, J., and Jacobs, R. W. 2004. You Don't Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishing.

Trudy Triner is a writer, speaker, and leadership consultant who has helped people be more successful in their work for over 25 years.

How to Manage Underperformers

2010-09-27T01:44:00.000-07:00

How to Handle the Underperformer on Your Team

One of the challenges that today’s busy managers struggle with is how to divvy up their precious people management time. Not everyone is a star performer so you should focus your limited bandwidth on the people who are doing the most for the organization, right? Unfortunately, high performers usually demand little time. They are self-sufficient, self-motivated and often produce great work regardless of how much face time they get.

The reality is that managers spend the bulk of their time thinking about, dealing with and handling underperformance.

Some have argued that this is wasteful: you should spend as little time as possible with your underperformers until they realize they are in the wrong job and leave. This is misguided advice. It is detrimental to ignore an underperformer and the impact that he has on your team. You can’t afford to let underperformance fester. And even if your underperformer does decide to leave of his own accord, replacing people is expensive, time-consuming, and disruptive.

Instead you should take a proactive approach to addressing the underperformance. Can you really turn around a C player? Underperformers can become valued contributors and you won’t know if your employee is capable of reform unless you give him the chance to try.

Below are four steps you can take to helping your underperformer change his ways:

1.Diagnose the issue. Underperformance may be caused by many things: lack of motivation, skill deficiency, misalignment with goals, personal conflicts, or home/ family issues. Very rarely is the reason straightforward, but it is your job as a manager to understand what is going on. Confidentially gather information about the performance issues from people who work with him.

2.Share what you are seeing. Talk with the underperformer. Be frank about what you are seeing and the impact it is having on you and your team. Be specific and use examples. Ask him how he sees the situation and what he feels the underlying causes are. It’s a natural reaction for him to be defensive. Empathize with his frustration but stand by your point of view. Potential is only worth something if it is realized.

3.Specify necessary changes. Explain what needs to change and how he should go about changing. It’s critical to set up processes by which the underperformer has the opportunity to prove himself. Set clear goals and timelines. If you’re not sure how to support him, ask for help from an HR partner or an external coach.

4.Evaluate and take action. If your underperformer meets his goals, congratulations. If he continues to not meet the mark, you may need to take action. Reflect on the person’s value to the organization. He may be invaluable in one arena but underperforming in another. Can you change his job description so that it better plays to his strengths? Or can you find another position in the organization that’s better suited for his skills? If the answer is no, you may need to terminate. Of course, making a firing decision shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Whatever you decide, don’t leave it up to them as to whether they leave. That’s a surefire way to create deadweight and hurt the morale of your team.

source: www.cebviews.com 21 September 2010

How to Remove the Boulder of Procrastination

2010-09-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

By Julie Henderson

Are you a person yearning for change, but haven't found the courage? It's possible that you struggle with the pain of removing the boulder of procrastination, which is often what is holding people back from going after their dreams.

We spend far too much thinking about whether we should or should not make a change. We analyze it far too much and this creates "analysis paralysis." When we over-analyze and when we think too much, we become immobilized and stuck: it's called procrastination. Procrastination can be defined as: our associations of what we link pain to. The longer we procrastinate, the longer we stand still, and the longer we stand still, the longer we settle for a life of mediocrity.

Don't despair, because I have discovered some reasons for procrastination and found solutions that will give you the courage to overcome procrastination.

1. Afraid to make a wrong decision. People often procrastinate because they are afraid that it will be a bad decision. There will always be the risk of making wrong decisions. But even bad decisions can be more valuable than no decision at all, because they present an opportunity for learning.

2. Not sure how to accomplish the goal. People often think they have to know exactly how to achieve whatever they want. If you know the "why," the how will take care of itself. There are people you may have been successful in a similar area and you can ask them. There is an old adage, "If there's a will, there's a way."

3. No time. People are strapped for time, yet it is one of the key ingredients for success. Procrastination can actually cost you hundreds of dollars. The demands of a career, raising a family and managing a home can leave a person with little or no time to think about their personal goals. In order to make the changes you desire, you need to schedule an appointment with your dreams and goals. Treat the appointments as you would a dental appointment or a hair appointment.

If you don't figure out how to drive procrastination away, the stark reality is you will be stuck doing the same thing for the rest of your life. Recognize some of the reasons for procrastination as indicated above, and implement the solutions. Whenever procrastination creeps up, you will be conditioned in driving it away. As a result you will be able to pursue any goal.

Julie Henderson is an Unstoppable Success Coach and published author, Expect Success - Be Unstoppable, A Woman's Secret Recipe. If you could you use some strategies on how to become unstoppable, go here http://www.ExpectSuccessBeUnstoppable.com/blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Henderson

http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Remove-The-Boulder-Of-Procrastination&id=5047206

Lecture of a Lifetime

2010-07-13T02:01:00.000-07:00