The concepts of leadership and high performance aren’t just limited to your business habits or the arch of your career.
They have a tendency to extend into all aspects of your life. Being able to honestly reflect on these concepts does more than just open doors for success. It opens doors for long-lasting personal growth, as well as improved relationships with those around you, and those who might happen to work under you.
Three Key Lessons For Being An Effective Leader
Michael Charles steps up to the plate to offer his thoughts about three critical questions that every effective leader needs to ask themselves. He is an expert in the field of organizational effectiveness and works with a wide range of business and individuals on concepts in leadership, as well as team development. Michael Charles is a John Maxwell Certified Trainer. In his professional life, he often serves as a coach and speaker which gives him the opportunity to share his insights on intentional living.
He notes that there are three key questions that people in a team usually have in their mind. If a leader can’t answer them, then their eventual opinion of the leader will gradually start to lower, leading to a variety of issues, not the least of which is decreased team effectiveness.
Question Number One: Do You Care For Me?
“This is an important question,” Charles explained. “Would you go all out for someone who doesn’t care for you?”
“No! You’ll do what you have to do for the paycheck, but chances are the minute something better comes along, you will be willing to move on.”
Charles notes that the leader in question might not actually verbalize the ways in which they care or don’t care for the people who work under them. “There are things that they will do, that people will pick up on, which demonstrates that they don’t necessarily care for you, or that they don’t fully value what you bring.”
“If you don’t tune in to people and take an active interest in them, they will pick up on it. You have to take an interest in other people as a human being. People don’t leave companies, they leave bosses!” Charles added.
Question Number Two: Can I Trust You?
Trust is a major factor for all human beings, both in life and in business. Yet for some leaders fostering a sense of trust can be a significant challenge.
“There are some people who are more trusting than others, and some who just naturally have trouble trusting people in general. When people realize that you don’t trust them, they start to not trust you back,” explained Charles.
What Can You Do To Establish Or Build Back Trust?
When you first take a position as a leader, or as a member of a team, there tends to be the assumption that the person in charge can be trusted to lead you to the goal. At the same time, leaders tend to trust that all members of a team have the skills and the basic desire to accomplish the defined goal. Yet as time goes on, a human relationship can be complicated, the bedrock of basic trust can be shaken and even cracked.
“You have to do what you say you will do. Even if it ends up hurting you,” said Charles. “Sometimes people say Yes to something because it’s convenient. Then reality sinks in and it inconvenient. A lot of people will only help you if it’s convenient for them.”
Charles also notes that the sense of shared reputation or good old-fashioned office gossip can also be a big factor in the trust relationship between leaders and their team. “People know how you talk about them behind their back,” Charles explained.
Question Number Three: Can You Help Me?
Team members will inevitably come to their leaders or managers for help. While it tends to have a lot to do with business and the tasks at hand it is also an opportunity to help them develop the skills they need to advance their career.
“As a leader, you need to build a track record. When you step into a new position people look to you assuming that you have the abilities. Over time, as a leader, you need to back up the position on multiple levels,” said Charles.
A High-Performance Mentality Extends To All Levels Of Your Life And Career
Performance in life, and in your career typically call for juggling a wide range of skills. High performance habits, however, extend even deeper into realms of self-knowledge as well as long-term personal growth.
Stephanie DiNozzi is a Certified High-Performance Coach. She has worked with a wide range of individuals and businesses to help propel them to greater heights both personally as well as professionally.
What Does A High-Performance Coach Do?
“If you look at the definition in Webster’s Dictionary, it talks about doing something faster or more efficiently, than what you are being compared against,” said DiNozzi. “In the coaching model, it becomes more about the whole notion of being able to create the insights and skills to help someone live a better life and raise their level of achievement faster than before.”
Of course, this isn’t a simple process. Human beings are complex things with complicated psyches and often deeply ingrained old habits.
“There’s a lot of depth to the process of moving you to another level. It works with people and businesses,” explained DiNozzi.
“It goes beyond being a life coach or a business coach. It encompasses all the different aspects that make up a person. It includes things like your personal skills and influence. How you interact with people and the psychology of how you talk to yourself!”
DiNozzi also notes that there are other aspects that a high-performance apprentice needs to look at. “It also looks at your productivity, and how you spend your time. Then how you can make improvements in time management as well as how you set your priorities.”
She also explains that the process needs to encompass your personal psychology. The approach goes beyond things like if you exercise and eat well. “It’s also about ow you level our energy. There are simple things you can do to level your energy and focus when you need it to be.”
How Do You Evaluate Someone Who Comes To You?
“It starts with a conversation. There are some parts that are intuitive and there are some cues you can look for, like sighs, reactions to certain questions and body language,” DiNozzi explained.
There is also a time-tested psychology assessment that is an integral part of the evaluation. “It’s designed to take you through challenge-based questions. Throughout the program, there are so-called Ah-Ha! Moments, in every session!”
How Long Does The Process Take?
“It depends on how deep you want to go with it,” She explained. The core part of the process involves 12-sessions, which can be done on a weekly basis. “There are also other programs that people might choose afterward.”
Is There A Specific Routine You Advocate?
“What I bring to them is to find what works best for you. But I don’t tell them how to specifically start or end their day,” DiNozzi commented. “You have to have something that connects what you are doing to the reason why.”
What’s Something You Can Do To Get Started?
“I think one of the most important things you can do for yourself is to stop and take a pause,” She said. “We go through so many transitions during the day. When you are about to go from one to the next, take a moment, close your eyes. Take three deep breaths and reset.
