S6 E12 Coach your Way to Exceptional Leadership- Lisa Askwith- Engaging Your People for Success

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Introduction

Most of us agree that Leadership is really important, yet so few leaders actually manage to reach a level of success that does them, or their people justice. The everyday pressures take over and people start to act before they think. It's a very common problem, however, thankfully it is one that can be resolved with some focus and dedication, that ultimately leads to good habits forming and taking over from the pressured reactions. 

It takes time and dedication to reach this point, but the good news is there are a lot of ways to do this, and they can be tailored to your style and abilities. It's just a matter of making it a priority in your own self learning, or making it available and supported for your people. After all, great leaders empower others to become the same, and that is what will really benefit your business and your people.

In today’s show I will take you through some of the core steps for achieving exceptional leadership with a particular focus on the value and skills achieved via becoming an exceptional coach. Giving you some clear direction on how you can structure your business to make sure that you can maximise the potential of your leaders. Outstanding Leadership is the glue that holds a business together, and is the key ingredient for developing and sustaining a positive and successful culture. In recent years there has been a lot of talk about empathy and authenticity in leaders. Both of these topics are now seen to be critical to being an outstanding leader. One who can engage their people and improve, and drive a rewarding and positive culture that leads to amazing business outcomes. I covered these core traits earlier this season, but they are still worth touching on here as they help a good leader become exceptional, as you need to combine several key traits to really reach that level.

Throughout my career, I have helped many businesses in the area of leadership. Sadly it is a common issue that can have massive negative impacts on both the culture and people, as well as the finances. However, there are several things you can do to turn this around, and ensure you are providing your people with exceptional leaders, whilst also helping your people to become exceptional leaders themselves.  

To call in today and ask a question, please use

Meeting ID
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Show Objectives
If all of  your leaders are already outstanding, congratulations, however this is a very rare occurrence! Plus leadership is rapidly evolving to meet the needs of the new generation of workers, as well as the agile, face paced, technology driven workplace we are now finding ourselves in. This means leadership, and what can do to make it exeptional, has also had to evolve. The good news is that this has been happening now for several years, and we have a wealth of information about what works, and what your people really need. The shift away from command and control managers has well and truly started, and we are now firmly in a world of inspiring leaders who are committed to authenticity and empathy, as well as their people and diversity.
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Today’s show focuses on what exceptional leadership really looks like and how you can achieve it across your business via incorporating the core skills of coaching. Allowing you to maximise your business results and develop a sustainable and positive culture, run by engaged staff who support the company vision. In short, allowing your business to be the best that it can be!

Key Issues

1. What are the true costs of poor leadership?
2. Are leadership qualities quantifiable in the business
3. Is leadership a focus of the Executive team or an afterthought?
4. Is there a policy around what leadership looks like and what is expected?
5. What type of interventions will allow your business to capitalise on exceptional leadership?
6. Who decides what exceptional leadership looks like, and makes others accountable for achieving it?
7. Has your entire Leadership team really embraced Diversity in all its guises and used it to benefit the people and the company?
8. Does your leadership team have a learning mindset?

13 Traits of Exceptional Leaders- Glenn Leibowitz

1- They trust you to do the job you have been hired to do
2- They seek your advice and input
3- They find opportunities to let you shine
4- They recognise your contributions
5- They have your back during tough times
6- They are master storytellers
7- They challenge you to do bigger and better things
8- They express appreciation
9- They are responsive
10- THey know when to apologise
11- They give credit where credit is due
12- Thye treat others with dignity and respect
13- They care


Servant Leadership- Originally coined by Greenleaf in the 1970’s

Servant leadership is a method of development for leaders. Servant leadership stresses the importance of the role a leader plays as the steward of the resources of the group, and teaches leaders to serve others while still achieving the goals set forth by the business.

“The servant-leader is the servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions”

Greenleaf- The ten principles of servant leadership

1. Listening.
2. Empathy.  
3. Healing. 
4. Awareness. 
6. Conceptualization.
7. Foresight.  
8. Stewardship.  
9. Commitment to the Growth of People. 
10. Building Community. - Note- here I add and stress diversity in building a community!

The Takeaway

Remember the words of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”  

Coaching
Coaching is one of the key traits of an outstanding leader, in fact it is that important that I dedicated the entire time of Episode 8 to it. So if you have not had a chance to listen to that episode please do.
Coaching is defined in many ways. The essence of coaching is:

• To help a person change in the way they wish and helping them go in the direction they want to go.
• Coaching supports a person at every level in becoming who they want to be.
• Coaching builds awareness and empowers choice that leads to change.
• It unlocks a person’s potential to maximise their performance. 
• Coaching helps them to learn rather than teaching them.
• Practicing coaching questioning techniques helps leaders unlock their true potential and that of their people

Coaching is a learned skill, and like a muscle it is one of those things that can be developed with training and use. The more you practice it the stronger it gets, until it becomes second nature and forms a key part of your core business skill set.

1. Leaders have to be equipped with what they need to make the shift from managing their technical areas to effectively managing other people. Look at models such as GROW and then later COACH to start to develop your leadership teams ‘coaching muscles’.
2. There is a difference between managing for performance, and coaching for growth and development.
3. Leaders have to model the behavior that they want.  

A Good Place to Start is recognising the Different Types of Coaching and encouraging and supporting a shift to Situational. This will build your coaching and mentoring muscles as well as ensure you are displaying empathy.

Styles of CoachingMore info
put in
1. Directive
4. Situational

Less info
put in
2. Laissez-faire
3. Nondirective


Less energy
pulled out
More energy
pulled out


GROW

One of the best ways to get better at non-directive coaching is to try using the GROW model, developed in the 1980s by Sir John Whitmore and others. It's an old model but incredibly simple and effective and still relevant today. This really helps leaders move from the direct telling model they often get trapped in, to achieving the more conversational encouragement and support model that they need to make the behavioural shift to in order to develop their leadership mindset and focus on others, not just themselves.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a reciprocal and collaborative at-will relationship that most often occurs between a senior and junior employee for the purpose of the mentee's growth, learning, and career development.Mentors often act as role models for their mentee and provide guidance to help them reach their goals. This is a key part of Outstanding Leadership.

Purpose and Growth Mindset
1-     Be 100% accountable
2-     Do not be concerned with what others have- Envy will derail you form your true goals
3-     Become an expert in your field- you will inspire trust
4-     Don’t focus on your failures- own them and learn
5-     Do the work and put in the time
6-     Do what you love for the people that love what you do- This is all about finding your purpose, once you have this you will be unstoppable as an outstanding leader
7-     Don’t focus solely on money- instead focus on creating value
8-     Achieve your outcomes quickly- the first mover advantage is very important for growth
9-     Be grateful for what you have- gratefulness is key for a growth mindset, as the energy it exudes will attract others, develop your mindset and prove you are an outstanding leader.
10-  Become self-aware and understand your purpose- to succeed in life and leadership you need to understand both, and it is also critical for developing a growth mindset that will take you, your people and your business to being the best they can be.


What You Need to Do

1. Determine the level of leadership in your business.
2. Develop a plan for corrective action.  This plan should be developed in consultation with the executive team.  Address the performance problem not the problem of the “person.”
3. Engage the Executive team to drive leadership as a core concept of their roles
4. Execute the plan 
5. Evaluate progress
6. Ensure leadership is a core accountability in performance appraisals

To be an exceptional leader, or to develop them, you need;

• An organisation that is geared towards leadership, with the support tools and beliefs
• Understanding and ability to develop servant leadership, which in turn then allows you to show true authenticity, empathy, and character, creating trust and encouraging your people to feel engaged and follow you.
• Employ coaching and mentoring, regularly until you are so good at it, that they become second nature.
• Discover your purpose and communicate it.
• Develop a growth mindset  
• Embrace Diversity

Shows
Previous: Episode 11 Performance Appraisals can be Positive
Next: Episode P 13  The Future of Leadership

Written by Lisa Askwith
Director of ApexBRS | ApexBRS, Regional Director of See Global Media, Chair of  EGN Singapore, and Associate Professor Cambridge Corporate University | At the Age of Change, providing the HR component of the Global Executive MBA and BBA. Lisa has worked for some of the largest companies in the world and successfully led restructures and change management programs in order to improve the bottom line through engaging the people for success, while developing exceptional leaders who can make a positive impact on Culture and long term business sustainability.

You can connect with Lisa on any of her platforms

LinkedIn Lisa Askwith - Director - Apex BRS

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