Here are some tips for becoming known for your ideas:

Define your niche and focus on it.

To become known for your ideas, you must have a clear focus and be an expert in a specific area. This means identifying your niche and developing a deep understanding of the topic. By specializing in a particular area, you can differentiate yourself from others and become a go-to source of information and expertise.

Build your knowledge and skills.

To be taken seriously as a thought leader, you must have solid knowledge and skills in your chosen field. This means investing in learning and continuing to educate yourself through formal education, workshops, or self-study.

Share your ideas and expertise.

One of the most effective ways to become known for your ideas is to share them with others. This could be through writing articles, presentations, or sharing your thoughts on social media. By consistently sharing your ideas and expertise, you can build a following and establish yourself as a respected authority in your field.

Network and collaborate.

Networking and collaboration are essential for becoming known for your ideas. Building relationships with other experts and thought leaders in your field can help you gain visibility and credibility. It can also lead to new opportunities for sharing ideas and collaborating on projects.

Be open to feedback and willing to adapt.

Becoming known for your ideas requires a certain level of vulnerability. You will need to be open to feedback and willing to adapt your ideas based on the input of others. This can be challenging, but it is essential for growing and improving as a thought leader.

Stay current and relevant.

You must stay current in your field to remain relevant and continue to be known for your ideas. This means staying current on new research and developments and adapting your ideas and approach accordingly.

Be authentic and genuine.

Authenticity is critical to becoming known for your ideas. Your followers and supporters must believe in you and your thoughts, which requires honesty and genuineness. Be authentic in your interactions with others and be true to your values and beliefs.

In Summary

Becoming known for your ideas takes time and effort but can be rewarding and fulfilling. By focusing on your niche, building your knowledge and skills, sharing your ideas, networking and collaborating, being open to feedback, staying current and relevant, and being authentic and genuine, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and make a real impact with your ideas.

The post Becoming Known for Your Ideas appeared first on myEAblog.com.

For example, your team will be able to develop new skills and gain knowledge, which prepares them for more responsibility in the future.

Delegation can also clearly show that you respect your subordinates’ abilities and trust their discretion. Employees who feel trusted and respected tend to have a higher level of commitment to their work, their organization, and, especially, their managers.

How do you delegate tasks effectively; there are a few things to consider.

• Choose the right person for the task

• Explain why you are delegating; providing context goes a long way

• Provide sufficient instructions

• Allow for training and access to resources

• Delegate responsibility and authority to make decisions empower the individual to carry on with the task. Nurture an environment and culture where people feel they can make decisions, ask questions, and take the necessary steps to complete the work.

• Inspect what you expect. Follow up on the work you delegated to your team members when it’s complete, make sure they did it correctly, and give them any feedback needed to improve when handling the task.

• Don’t forget to say thank you. Take the time to show genuine appreciation and point out specific things they did right or well. When you note those specifics, you’re giving people a roadmap for what they should continue to do to be successful. This is the most straightforward step but one of the hardest for many people to learn. It will inspire loyalty, provide satisfaction for work, and become the basis for mentoring and performance reviews.

Now that we discuss things to consider, let’s list the tasks that leaders can delegate effectively and when it makes more sense for a leader to spend time on higher priorities versus low priorities. Having an administrative professional to help with these tasks is also an excellent investment if you do not have to support yourself.

1. Calendar management & booking meetings
2. Travel booking
3. Expense management
4. HR management tasks: performance review process, vacation approval, onboarding, and offboarding staff logistics.
5. Departmental budget cycle management
6. Office Operation management
7. File management and record retention schedules
8. Meetings Management: invites, tracking attendance, compiling of agendas, meeting minutes, and follow-ups on action items.
9. Special ad-hoc projects; one-off type of projects: e.g., office move/refresh
10. Presentation slides: tasks related explicitly to formatting or designing slides.
11. Culture building: staff activities and social events that increase morale and cultivate the team-building spirit and strengthen relationships
12. Annual celebrations & gifting ideas
13. Event management and planning, restaurant reservations and catering
14. Department communication: internal messaging, announcements, monthly newsletter, etc.
15. Crisis management and business continuity
16. Market Research: content, competitors, and informational data
17. Social media management
18. Process and improvement procedures/protocols
19. Registrations to events, professional development, or conferences
20. Facility management and vendor negotiations.

Final Thoughts

If you delegate effectively, you can increase trust and commitment with your employees, improve productivity, and make sure the right people perform the tasks that best suit them. Delegating is not about offloading your work; it’s about providing learning opportunities to your staff.

Please do not mistake offloading your work as a development opportunity for someone else. A thoughtful leader will balance and evaluate the difference between low-value learning opportunities and high meaningful ones. A leader is encouraged to allow new pathways to learning opportunities that provide growth, balance challenge, and suit the individual involved. Offloading your work is not a development opportunity for others.

The post Tasks that Leaders Can Delegate appeared first on myEAblog.com.

You mute your delivery out of fear of being misjudged or having to be the unpopular spoken opinion in the room. You play it safe.

As a result, a less powerful version of yourself shows up. I understand that there’s value in being aware of our audience, but I would be inclined to say how often we make assumptions about our audience that are wrong.

These same assumptions lead us to show up differently, less authentic therefore less powerful.

So, if you want things to change, you must choose to do it differently.

The details of people around us won’t change, but how we choose to show up can. I recently needed to remind myself of that. I could never control or change how people behave, react, or show up if I was honest with myself. But I can only control how I show up within a situation.

It has nothing at all to do with being the most liked, the loudest voice, or taking more space for speaking. Showing up powerfully is about making choices that align with who you are, what lights you up from inside, brings you joy, and supports you in living consciously.

A mentor recently reminded me that I couldn’t fix or save everything. The situation sometimes calls for me to stand down and remain on the sidelines as events unfold. Because the only way out is the way through, at first, we don’t always see it that way.

We rush to either resist, hide, avoid, or numb from difficult emotions or conflict, whether personally or professionally. Most of us are not reasonably equipped to handle the waves, the highs, the lows, or the depth.

What is the solution?

You Name it:

In what scenario do you show up as a muted version of yourself?

Is it when you are in a meeting, networking event, family gathering, new situation, or a significant life-changing decision or discussion? What’s in for you to stay silenced? What are you gaining? What are you losing in the process?

Get Clear on your Values:

What are your values? What matters to you the most? What can and can’t you live with? A list of the qualities that need to be present to live your best, most authentic, fulfilling, and joyful life. What are those values that help support you in living in harmony, calmness, and peace of mind? When I think about my values, they are ownership, inclusive, fairness, resilience, hope, faith, joy, efficiency, getting out of my comfort zone, family, and mindfulness.

What are yours?

Use your Values List as a Tool:

I recommend capturing your values List or manifesto where you can see it as a reminder for when you are in these situations. Maybe in a notebook, a journal, or printed and framed on your desk or plain post-it note on your mirror where you can see it daily. I know you probably think this sounds crazy, but it works. Try it before you resist it.

Let your values list or manifest serve as a reminder for you to go into a situation. Refer to your list and acknowledge the values you honor when you choose to show up powerfully in the situation.

What do you notice?

It’s about choosing to get out of your way, so you can influence, lead, or live with more impact as a participant rather than a consumer.

No regrets or judgment:

Once you decide that showing up powerfully is what brings joy and lights you up, you will need to step into your power. As life will continue to throw curveballs your way, showing up powerfully becomes the pathway to making more decisions from a place of “being” instead of “doing.”

This truth is not necessarily easy, but a change mindset and daily practice will help you hone the path of least resistance. As a result, you become more self-aware and will be making decisions that align with what you believe to be authentic and truthful to who you are as a human being. Eliminating regrets, judgment, or looking back in the past ruminating on “should’ve, could’ve statement” but instead finding courage, ownership, and acceptance of all parts of yourself, the good and flawed parts of oneself.

Final Thoughts:

Frankly, you can never control how your actions will land, interpret, or how people will respond, but you can control how you feel and why you choose to own your power and take action.

When you ground yourself in your values, you can trust that showing up powerfully is simply in line with who you are authentically.

The post How to Show Up Powerfully appeared first on myEAblog.com.

A common misconception is that one personality type is most suited naturally to lead. In fact, most great leaders come from many personality types. These types can and have produced effective and capable leaders. However, their leadership styles can naturally differ significantly from one type to another. Whether you are looking to discover the ideal leader for a management promotion or working on yourself, discovering your own inner leader, the best place to begin is by identifying each personality type’s unique talents and what they bring to a leadership role.

Here I will be exploring a summary of the DISC personality types, so let’s dive into it, shall we!

1. Dominant

They tend to be direct and decisive, sometimes described as dominant. They prefer to lead than follow and tend towards leadership and management positions. They have high self-confidence, are risk-takers, and problem-solvers, enabling others to look to them for decisions and direction. They are also considered to be self-starters.

Characteristics: dominant, direct, and decisive

Communication style: straightforward; quick to get started and hurry to get things done.

Style Measures: how aggressively a person responds to challenges.

What they desire: to compete against others and win

What they fear: being taken advantage of

When working with D: be direct, to the point, and brief. Concentrate on facts and talk about “what” instead of “how.” Emphasize business topics and try to be results-oriented. Make suggestions, be confident and focus on problem-solving, and get right to the point.

Personal areas of growth for the D: need to work on listening more actively. Additionally, they need to be attentive to other team members’ ideas and strive for consensus instead of making decisions alone or making strong statements. They need to be careful to explain the “whys” of their proposals and decisions. The D style can be controlling and domineering, and must watch their tone and body language when feeling frustrated or stressed out. The D style can lean toward being all business and goals, making them seem socially inhibited. They may need to center more on developing personal relationships and recognizing others’ opinions, feelings, and desires. It may take some intentionality to be friendlier and more approachable in social interactions.

2. Influence

These leaders inspire greatness in their followers; in effect, they make great motivators. They know how to influence others and make excellent charismatic speakers.

Characteristics: influencing, Inspiring and impulsive

Communication style: verbal and persuasive, like to start new things but has trouble finishing.

Style Measures: a person’s desire to influence or persuade others

What they desire: to make new friends and influence other people

What they fear: social or peer rejection

When working with I: build rapport and be friendly. When approaching them, do so in a friendly and favorable workplace environment. Be sure to give them plenty of opportunities to verbalize their ideas. They are great problem solvers. Turning their ideas into action helps to write the details down or follow the inspect-what-you-expect approach to ensure all items actioned are being done on-point and to expectation. Allow time for social activities at work; they are great motivators.

Personal areas of growth for the I: as they tend to make decisions impulsively, they can benefit from some outside research and inner contemplation before acting. Also, they could benefit from setting small goals, breaking big goals into smaller steps, and keeping lists. They will need to exercise control over actions, words, and emotions. They tend to be swift thinkers and may need to slow their pace for other team members. As a natural talker, I style may need to concentrate on talking less and listening more. They tend to over-promise, often replying with “Yes” more often than they should. They have a tendency to take on more than they can accomplish and need to follow through with tasks.

3. Steadiness

This type of leader enjoys leading by example. They are not too shy to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work. They appreciate their team member’s contributions and can build strong and loyal teams.

Characteristics: stable, strong, sympathetic, and supportive.

Communication style: patient and diplomatic, like to finish one thing before starting another

Style Measures: a person’s loyal or to keep things the same

What they desire: to feel secure and have good relationships with others

What they fear: sudden change or loss of security

When working with S: be personable and work towards building rapport. The sooner S style leaders grow comfortable with you, the sooner they will open up to you. This is especially if S style leaders see genuine and authentic interest in them as a person. Be mindful that they may require a bit of help getting started with new projects. Give them some time to ask the questions and process the information. Provide them with clarifications and specifics for tasks they are asked to do and explain the “how” questions. When giving feedback, do so in private with thoughtfully explaining feedback with patience, empathy, and understanding. If you are instituting change in the workplace, be patient with them, explain your reasoning, and give them time to adjust. It will make them uncomfortable at first.

Personal areas of growth for the S: they may struggle with change and, therefore, struggle with the adjustment. They will require working on flexibility and openness in this area. Because S style leaders desire positive personal relationships and avoid conflict, they may be overly agreeable or choose to put others’ needs before their own. S may need to adapt their communication style, to be more direct in their interactions, and to be aware of their wants and needs. It may take intentionality to express their thoughts, opinions, and feelings in situations, although they make excellent listeners to others. You may sometimes find that the slower pace of the S style may need to be increased to accomplish goals on time.

4. Compliant

These leaders have studied and worked hard to develop skills and talents and are usually recognized as experts in their fields. They lead by their extensive knowledge and abilities. They are excellent planners, strategists, and tacticians. They are contemplative and are rarely caught off guard. They like to be in control.

Characteristics: compliant, correct, conscientious, and competent.

Communication style: precise and conscientious, likes to plan before starting something new.

Style Measures: a person’s desire to follow the rules or regulations

What they desire: is to follow the rules and be as close to perfect as possible.

What they fear: criticism and correction by others

When working with C: be prepared when possible. Prepare your case in advance by doing your research. C focuses on the details, so best to pay attention to them. It’s also helpful to support a statement or idea with accurate data or examples. Submit a report for the project to give them parameters and details, discuss how different tasks fit into the big picture plan. Be logical and systematic in your thinking and planning. When disagreeing, work with facts instead of people’s examples. Be patient, persistent, and diplomatic. Lastly, remember that they fear criticism.

Personal areas of growth for the C:

Because of their attention to the details, they tend to be over-critical of others. It’s easier for them to find all the faults this way. It’s essential to focus on doing the right things and not just doing something right. Regarding teamwork, the C style needs to be open to others’ methods and ideas and move quickly to accomplish the team’s goals successfully. The C may need to concentrate more on people to build strong relationships as they are seen as introverted, as they tend to be more task-driven and want to work alone. At times, the C will need to push themselves to be decisive and take risks, even if all the research isn’t there to support it.

Final Thoughts

Does any of this sound familiar? While brainstorming your list of qualities most sought-after, does flexibility, communication, organization, vision, or authority rise to the top?

If you are looking to find or wish to become the best leader for your organization, make time to think about what the organization needs in this area. Is your office environment chaotic? Then consider giving a leadership position to (or adopt the leadership traits of) a controlled C DISC type leader or even a stable S DISC style. They may just smooth things out. Perhaps you’re in need of leading the company through complex or significant change. Then D or I style personalities might be an intelligent choice.

The point being is that DISC helps you identify your natural leadership strengths. If you want to learn more about your leadership style, consider taking the DISC leadership personality test to find out your leadership strengths.

The post Unlocking your Leadership Potential appeared first on myEAblog.com.

As organizations are being squeezed for leadership, you must assess your employees to be sure that they are continuously learning, empowered, and demonstrating leadership behaviors and practices. The growth and retention of your workforce are incumbent upon developing your managers into leaders.

Today, business leaders have a lot on their plate, maybe more now than at any other time in history. It’s both a blessing and a burden. There are many resources (theoretical and practical) at a leader’s disposal to help manage, engage, and build teams. Given technology is a driving factor in the workplace and is continually advancing, management practices and workforce conventions are constantly in flux to incorporate the latest trends.

In addition, today’s working environment is rapidly changing as the population demographics shift from retiring Baby Boomers to a surge of Millennials filling the ranks of organizations. Because Millennials have personal values systems differing from past workers, individual values systems must be considered when motivating and incentivizing team individuals. Where does a leader begin with fast-changing and increasing resources available and so much buzz-worthy chatter on the topic?

Though sage advice from leadership gurus and stimulating team-building activities are at your disposal, it is good to understand your team dynamics.

According to the Disc insights, TEAMS is broken into five categories.

Theorist

Some words that describe this style are visionary, creator, and idea generator. These team members like to think big, talk about what’s possible, and find creative “out of the box” solutions.

The Roadblock/challenge – is to focus on execution details and see a task through to completion.

Executor

These teammates are generally described as setting standards, implementing policies, and following procedures. Their performance offers accuracy and dependability to ensure things go according to plan.

The Roadblock/challenge – when guidance is vague, details are lacking, and they prefer more information to be most effective.

Analyzer

These analytic team members are known for diving into the details to help organize and refine information and processes. They view problems as puzzles to solve and enjoy finding the missing pieces.

The Roadblock/challenge – is what some may know as “the paralysis of analysis,” as they risk slowing down the process or momentum by getting bogged down with too much detail.

Manager

The role of this style is often misunderstood by what the name infers, that “managers” are ultimately in charge of or administering total control over something. However, that’s not an accurate depiction of this role. These team members provide significant diplomatic oversight of processes, ensure preparations are made, opportunities and resources are available, and team needs are met.

The Roadblock/challenge – is to not overwhelm themselves by attempting to equally balance needs across an organization, resulting in loss of focus and productivity.

Strategist

These individuals are interested in helping the organization and individuals achieve long-term success through intentional design. They enjoy mapping out a plan of action, setting goals, and solving problems that could become barriers to future success. They are exceptionally good at moving the team forward by meeting obstacles head-on.

The Roadblock/challenge – is slowing down the pace and managing their expectations of others. Before moving on, they need to be sure their team is ready and equipped to move with them.

Final Thoughts

Take a moment to think of anyone on your team who demonstrates the strengths that any of these thinking styles describe. Keep in mind any dedicated team will be comprised of a variety of personality styles, limitations, and strengths. Assuming they will all operate and think the same is both unproductive and counter-intuitive. Effective communication, combined with an understanding of each team member’s strengths and weaknesses, will certainly help to identify the right role for the right person.

Achieving your organizational goals will be best served by balancing the whole team as you move forward as a group. So don’t get stuck in trying to change or reinvent the wheel. And consider staying away from directing the individual toward what you want them to do. It’s often never the best strategy for achieving goals and success. Some might believe so, momentarily, but you won’t be cultivating employee retention or loyalty in the long run. Do not mistake offloading your workload as someone else’s development opportunity; it is never the case.

Thoughtfully not losing sight of the big picture, capitalizing on each team member by balancing strengths, bridging gaps, mapping out your in-house talents, aligning goals to performance reviews, and outlining an effective communication strategy that provides clarity, support, and cohesiveness within team dynamics.

The post The Nature of Teams appeared first on myEAblog.com.

Because leadership is much more than giving orders, attending meetings,  setting deadlines, managing employees, or conducting performance reviews annually. Leadership is a task that requires dedication and a wide range of skills.

Leading others is a vital role but not an easy one. It can get messy and complicated. That is why you have to continue to evolve, develop, train, and be coachable to get it right.

So, how can you approach leadership in a positive, effective, and impactful way?

Positive leadership isn’t about constant smiling and being kind to other employees. In fact, there will be times when positive leaders must deliver bad news or even take on challenging situations and learn how to give unfavorable feedback positively. This is a crucial part of a business’s success. We all know things don’t always go as planned, and there are times when you can’t always be the nice one. The key is to convey your point without losing your positive credibility effectively. The key is to deliver the message you need to get across without shutting down or demoralizing the person with whom you are speaking. Remember, it is easy for many to remember the bad more than the good.

What is Positive Leadership

It’s an area of study within positive psychology concerning leadership styles, techniques, or behavior the leader engages in that falls outside the normal range seen in leadership. Imagine a bell curve of leadership behaviors, with negative behaviors on the left and positive behaviors on the right. Most leadership behaviors will fall within the middle, the thickest part of the bell curve. Destructive behaviors will fall in the far-left tail, while positive leadership behaviors fall in the far-right.

A lot of time is spent discussing bad leadership, pointing out what not to do, and getting people to shift their behavior from the left side to the middle right of the bell curve. Positive leadership aims to get leaders to move their behavior from anywhere on the bell curve to the far right of the curve.

Positive Leadership Umbrella Term

Several different leadership theories live under the positive leadership term; the most notable include:

1. Authentic Leadership Development
2. Transformational Leadership
3. Charismatic Leadership
4. Servant Leadership

Each has its unique style, behaviors, and assumption; however, at its most basic level, they all agreed upon the following critical aspects of leadership:

• High self-awareness, optimism, and personal integrity
• Positive leadership involves modeling, experiencing, and purposefully enhancing positive emotions.
• A positive leader is interested in their employees’ development and the bottom line.

Positive Organizational Leadership

It’s a subfield that explores positive areas at an organizational level. Such as organizational citizenship behaviors that indicate commitment, loyalty,  and a willingness to go above and beyond, particularly positive-focused change management, change management, and other high-level ways that positive leaders can impact an organization.

Which Positive Leadership Style Work Best?

According to research, it’s hard to answer that question as there are tons of positive leadership styles out there, and it depends on who you ask. If the question is to spark a debate, I believe it’s easily accomplished. However, read on if the ask is based on knowledge gain and professional improvement for growth and embracing positive leadership styles. It would be helpful here to summarize each of the most popular positive leadership styles out there known to humankind.

• Authentic Leadership: style is characterized by relational transparency, self-awareness, a sense of ethics and integrity, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing being fair and open-minded.
• Visionary (or Authoritative) Leadership: they have an ambitious vision, inspiring others to pursue it.
• Coaching Leadership: they know how to further develop and get the best out of those around them, and they usually do just that.
• Affiliative Leadership: these leaders are well-versed in applying and enhancing positive affect in the workplace, bringing harmony and conflict resolution to a team.
• Consensus (or Democratic) Leadership: they thrive on collaboration, bringing together diverse viewpoints to gather information and make decisions (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002).
• Transformational leadership is characterized by idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation; the transformational leader promotes innovation and creativity through non-threatening questioning of ideas and open-mindedness. Additionally, you can include individualized consideration where the leader treats each follower as a unique individual with unique strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
• Charismatic Leadership: this is a subtype of transformational leadership. In this role type, the leader checks all four of the boxes outlined above but is also skilled in communicating significantly deeper with others.
• Servant Leadership: Servant leadership embodies three essential elements: This type of leadership empowers and develops people. The result is an expression of humility, authenticity, interpersonal acceptance, and stewardship. And it provides direction.

Does any of this sound familiar as you review the list of positive leadership styles above? Try to see if you can relate with any on the list. Whether you have worked with leaders in the past that embody one of those leadership styles, or if you can determine which one of those is your leadership style falls under without conducting any assessment or tests. The goal here is not to look at the list from “what’s lacking” but more of a baseline to understand your leadership styles, looking at past interaction and experience to determine for yourself which of these positive leadership styles you work best with. It is important that we take the approach to understand that one size does not fit all. Sometimes some leaders may subconsciously switch between types based on certain situations.

However, it is much easier to define one’s leadership style and consistently show up in the same manner to your followers and employees because it’s your natural home base. The positive leadership style that you resonate with the most will be easier to sustain in the long run. It reduces confusion, clarifies expectations, and increases positive relations and morale.

Positive Leadership in Action

Positive leadership in action looks like leaders who care, empower, and support employees—a few examples of that.

• Supports employees. This entails more than just seeming supportive; it means to be a genuinely supportive leader who has their employees back and to be there for them when they need it most. This might include acting as a buffer between employees and a micromanaging manager, or it may show as speaking up for an employee in a meeting when they are struggling.
• A leader who empowers employees gives them as much power and self-determination as possible. An excellent positive leader does not give orders or answers but provides the guidance and tools necessary for their employees to do their best work.
• A caring leader will address a rare mistake from a consistently productive employee with compassion and concern rather than blame. A caring leader will understand that we are all human, and each one of us ultimately makes a mistake at some point.
• Effective positive leaders will also understand that there is probably a reason behind the mistake, try to talk to the employee to see if they are struggling with something that’s not immediately obvious.
• Empowering leaders might delegate projects and large-scale tasks to staff but allow them to choose how they will tackle them. It also encourages them to choose their training and development opportunities to invest in their growth.

Key Traits & Skills of a Positive Leader

To be a positive leader, you will need to develop, improve, and embody some essential traits and skills in your actions and daily interactions with the people you lead. Although there are so many out there, and this list is nowhere near comprehensive, but few are vital to your leadership development journey, including:

• Mindfulness – workplace mindfulness is the degree to which individuals are mindful in their work setting; to put it another way, a mindful individual is not ruminating about the past. They are not worrying about the future; they are simply “being” in the here and now—paying close attention to stimuli, both internal and external. It is mindful information processing: a mindful employee will take in what is happening in the workplace and not react to it. Instead, take in information from their surroundings. Many researchers now consider mindfulness a psychological state that varies from moment to moment within individuals.
• Hope – is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-directed determination and planning to meet these goals.
• Confidence – our self-assurance in trusting our abilities, capacities, and judgments; the belief that we can meet the demands of a task.
• Self-esteem – a person’s overall sense of their value or worth. It can be considered a measure of how much a person value, approves of, appreciates him or herself, favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the self.
• Self-efficacy – is the belief we have in our abilities and competencies. Self-efficacy in all forms influences our thoughts, emotions, actions, and motivation. It operates mainly through the cognitive and affective channels and plays a crucial role in shaping our perception of life experiences.
• Positive affect refers to the feelings or emotions that we display and experience, especially in terms of how they influence us to act and make decisions.
• Locus of control – is your internal control span managing the things that are within your control and owning up to those responsibilities.
• Emotional stability – it’s self-exploratory, not losing your temper, volatile moods, emotionally reactive, and transferring and offloading onto others and in other words, losing your center and projecting outwardly.

Tips for Being an Effective & Positive Leader

There are key behaviors that you may want to incorporate into your toolbox in order to be an effective positive leader:

1. Self-awareness (asking for feedback)
2. Relational transparency (to have a clear philosophy on leadership )
3. Balanced processing (by using active listening)
4. Ethical behavior (by doing what you say you will do)
5. Trustworthiness (by treating others with respect and keeping your word)
6. Supportiveness (giving appreciation and support to employees)
7. Empowerment (giving your employees freedom and choice)
8. Model your values behind the behaviors, not just the behaviors themselves.
9. Promote self-determination in your employees by showing them how it’s done.
10. Encourage positive social exchanges and positive emotions in the workplace.
11. Set and live up to high expectations.
12. Be sure to deliver on the commitments you make.
13. Value your employees and be sure to nurture skills, relationships, and professional development.
14. Work well with others, engage and promote teamwork and collaboration.
15. Try to resolve the inevitable conflicts in the workplace efficiently and quickly.
16. Be open about your willingness to help, support, and develop others.

If you decide to implement the positive behaviors above in your day-to-day leadership, you will see a marked improvement in employee performance, organizational culture, and morale!

A Take Home Message

One of the critical aspects of positive leadership is establishing and achieving Everest goals. A wealth of research has been done to support that having goals motivates individuals and organizations greatly. It is a positive way to achieve higher performance than if they didn’t have any goals at all.

Everest goals focus on possibilities, opportunities, and potential. Every individual and organization should have some of their own. A helpful tool to keep employees motivated is goal setting. Whether it is an Everest goal or a general goal, they help inspire the better. There are other aspects to keep in mind when making a public declaration when trying to motivate individuals. People are more inclined to do what they said they would do if it’s happening respectfully and realistically, not being pushed and forced upon by those leaders. Suppose you are a leader or in the job field looking for help in becoming a positive leader. It’s always easy to say that you will be a good leader. However, whether you are adequately prepared depends on the amount of preparation time you are willing to put forth, open-mindedness, checking your ego at the door, and how coachable you are to embrace the learnings.

The post Powerful Traits of Positive Leadership appeared first on myEAblog.com.

The answer to that is mindfulness and coaching. What do I mean by that? To thoughtfully provide some perspective on the matter, leaders and HR professionals must first understand the values of each member within a team. What drives their performance, what drains their performance, and how can you tie their skill-set and talent to the overall goals and objectives of the department or organization. Think about it as creating a process map for individual team members and collectively as a department under one umbrella.

I know you probably think that’s a time-consuming exercise, maybe so. Still, if you are serious about creating a respectful environment where team members feel valued, appreciated, and rewarded according to their strength and the different perspectives they bring to the team; it is then worth the time and effort to collectively map out how each contribution matters to the overall success of the group. Allowing each team member to define what success looks like is a great starting point toward a healthy, productive workplace environment—creating the ideal environment among team members reducing clashing egos insecurities, and illuming inclusivity and diverse views.

Your goal, as a workplace leader, is to eliminate the negative impact of challenging personalities such as the independents, the unmotivated, the poor communicator, the passive-aggressive, the narcissist, the control freak, the aloof, the blamer, and the gossiper, to say the least. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s add one more, the flyer, a highly emotional personality type who at any point in time may “fly off the handle.” The flyer has also been dubbed the “drama queen” or “drama king.” This particular personality type often shows a pattern of attention-seeking, need for excitement, excessive emotionality, and exaggeration to maintain largely superficial relationships to get their emotional needs met.

The good news: there are strategies to turn team chaos into highly functional team members. Whether emotional drama queens or slackers, all these challenging individuals can consume so much of your time and energy. Let’s explore some of these strategies below.

Strategies for Effective Communication with Challenging  Personalities

1. Flattery often works. Show them that the concept of teamwork increases their influence—their expertise will be essential for meeting team goals.
2. Assigning a specific task or a project can be highly effective in encouraging an employee to start pulling their weight on the team.
3. A dose of self-confidence helps. Many poor communicators are simply insecure, afraid to say something that may make them look foolish. Let them know mistakes are pretty standard in the learning experience; it’s not fatal.
4. Understand that some employees will never fit into a team framework. If you can’t turn around these employees with training, then it may be that the role is not the right fit. Consider aligning them with a position that fits within their areas of strength.
5. Make it clear to the team that success is when team members work together, leaning on each other’s strengths, as their performance will be measured on how much they contribute to team goals.
6. Try being flexible with your communication style based on the various personalities you deal with at the office. You can control some of those adjustments in your team interactions and may help you connect with a co-worker a bit better, who has a different personality and communication style than your own.
7. Use direct communication to confront problems head-on in the office (be sure to remain tactful). Candor and care can co-exist. Frequently, even the most difficult personalities can surprise you if you give them the chance to understand how their behavior impacts the team and yourself.
8. Never jump to conclusions or assume anything about a situation until you’ve had a chance to communicate directly with a difficult personality or you have verified the information.
9. Build and practice your self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and wise compassion as a leader. You have the responsibility of managing individuals; it’s a huge responsibility to shoulder if you haven’t built the internal resources within to help support you during a stressful and challenging time or otherwise manage difficult personalities.
10. Understanding that belonging matters- the elements of belonging at work means you feel seen for your unique contributions, connected to your co-workers, supported in your daily work and career development, and proud of your organization’s values and purpose. You got to practice what you preach, led by example in real-time. Choose courage over comfort.
11. Actively listen. Make an effort to understand what another person is saying before responding fully. Show them your full attention, make eye contact, and don’t take calls, check your email, or interrupt, during your conversation with them. Always check for understanding by paraphrasing what they have said but use your own words. It’s an effective way to confirm or clarify information.
12. Be sure your employees know where they can go for information, answers, and coaching. Encourage people to sign up for training or other learning and development opportunities to encourage professional growth. Discuss how projects and short-term, cross-functional team assignments are excellent ways to learn and add new skills. Continue regularly to stress the importance of learning new things.
13. As much as possible, explain your decisions. When you give reasons for your choices, it demonstrates respect for your employees and will reduce any misunderstandings, misperceptions, hurt feelings, or the spread of rumors. For example, people will want to hear why you decide to cancel a meeting or a project. What were the primary considerations that went into the decision, and who was involved in making it? Explain as much as you can. Speak clearly and avoid “office speak jargon” so you won’t be misinterpreted.
14. Very often, businesses must shift quickly in response to sudden changes in economic conditions. In short, do not make promises you cannot keep. Avoid making any promises to your employees that you will need to retract shortly after. Instead, use language that does not over-promise.
15. Make sure you carve out time to review and explain your employee’s goals. When employees feel connected to the business and understand how their actions can support it, there is greater productivity and of course, less employee turnover. This has been a consistent theme in team leadership research. Reviewing individual goals is a productive way to spend your time as a leader. Additionally, tying the work to organizational objectives helps employees understand not only their own work but also the business overall as well.

Food for Thought

There is one universal truth at our most basic human level, whether challenging personalities or toxic workplaces; when we are seen, connected at work, supported, and proud of our work and the organization, it is the essential element of belonging. Additionally, the theory of wise compassion is built upon the leader’s ability to be a caring presence, caring courage, caring directness, and caring transparency to enhance trust, psychological safety, and performance among team members. In reality, a lot of the work toxicity is about us being able to drop our point of view be open to the situations and the emotional agendas that we hold on to. Fears, hopes, lack of trust/lack of respect/aggressions/passive-aggressiveness, perfectionism tendencies, narcissism, and deeming behavior towards each other can often be the source of toxicity and difficulty.

Mindful leaders who draw on mindfulness deal with ambiguity and challenging situations in a new and different way. As mindfulness enhances leaders’ abilities to interact with others, maintain perspective, and attune with others’ emotional states and their own.

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However, one fact remains unchangeable it has been a challenge to build relationships, connections and virtually feel the camaraderie of the team spirit. It’s even more challenging for those joining a new organization remote not benefiting from the “meet and greet” with colleagues and peers in an in-person setting,  gathering for a coffee break or lunches.  A team member will feel left out unintentionally (I least, I hope it’s unintentional).

With that said, we must make improving interpersonal and communication skills a priority. You can focus on communication skills as you work remotely and take steps to consider as you interact and communicate virtually.

I like to call these are the manifesto of interpersonal & communication skills. Here are some that I thought might be of interest to you:

1. Clear communication – It’s essential as you work virtually to remember the non-verbal cues aren’t as strong; therefore, it’s best to consider the clarity and outline your message’s details or ask.

2. Develop a strong voice – whenever you are on video calls, be clear, concise, and show up with confidence in every interaction.
3. Assume good intention – It is so easy to have miscommunication, especially when working remotely. First, don’t make assumptions. Second, if you feel misunderstood or mis-interrupted, handle these conversations via phone or video versus an email communication that might miss the mark and tone you are trying to convey.

4. Timely response – to build trust and reliability among team members and managers and eliminate guesswork and anxiety, it is vital to respond promptly to emails, phone calls, and other communication efforts. It is the professional way of working, so they only get the information they need when you respond to them—keeping mind sharing relevant updates on projects, status reports, and tasks as needed without others having to ask for the information, keeping the lines of communication open and easy for moving the work forward and creating an environment that thrives with a sense of ease, efficiency, and productivity—minimizing the spin in getting to the information or accomplishing the targets.

5. Build rapport – when you build interrelationships with colleagues in person, the same also applies when working remotely. It may definitely take longer and might not be easy for some, but it is very possible to do. Consider sending a check-in email or chat at the beginning of the day as if you are working in the same space. You may want to ask how they are doing or what they did over the weekend before diving into work talk and tasks. Let your team know your availability, for example, when you sign off early, go on vacation, or update your status online to show you are busy when you are in a meeting. These are simple steps to follow but powerful as it shows your professionalism and courtesy towards others.

6. Learn communication preferences – not everyone has some communication styles; some prefer video calls, email, phone, or quick chats/text messaging. Shake up your communications media as not all situations require only one type of communication. Your discernment, intuition, and reading of the environment/room will guide you in determining the optimum way to handle communication preferences and styles, so be mindful and pay focus attention.

7. Verbal conversation – don’t forget those that you can have via phone or even video calls. With so many technology options and platforms and adding different generational styles in communicating, many individuals carry an entire conversation over texting instead of doing it the old-fashioned way via a phone. This keeps the personal touch and connection alive and the lines of communication open versus cold, disconnected way using texts.

8. Utilize team software – As mentioned earlier, technology has made it possible for everyone to be accessible and within reach by using options available to you to improve communication with your team members. Depending on the company’s internal resources, some use Zoom, Teams, Slack, or something similar as communication for projects, deadlines, tracking responsibilities, etc. Be sure to utilize the software that is expected and operationalized by our company.

In summary, working remote allows you to hone and enhance your interpersonal and communication skills with some of the above listed; this may benefit you in the long run as you will find yourself with a skill set that can positively impact many areas of your life. Be flexible, adaptable, and have a beginner’s mind in your approach. You will become versatile in no time with your interpersonal and communication skills.

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Organizations and leaders have been tested with remote work plans, crisis management, and unexpected business continuity planning. With this new knowledge and discoveries, I believe organizations and leaders alike understand a crucial element; they were nowhere near ready to transition and operate remotely. Sure, they pivoted quickly, but there were still issues along that journey to be managed.

As a result, a few areas have emerged that will continue to be top of mind:

When the COVID period eventually passes, the need for continued emergency preparation must act as a wake-up call to organizations and leaders. A reflection and review of your internal policy might include a “work from home” policy now, including how employees can collaborate efficiently. This policy must ensure that communication between team members is effective and that communication mediums are also outlined. It is a major need for preparation today, should a situation as such or similar arise in the future. Putting plans in place as a baseline and guidelines on staying connected should be included, as well as storing information, and the availability to communicate through secure platforms and tools should be identified. Standardizing remote work practices and policies, including project management tools and communication channels for readiness, will help in the policy.

The positive aspects of remote work – Although many employers have been offering telecommuting for a while before the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, working remotely for extended periods was not always considered. Once the circumstances forced it to the surface as an option, the hiring pool expanded, and new positions were created that were not foreseen or feasible in the past. Another noticeable result is increased productivity or improvement for skeptics about remote work; this has been proven, sadly for you!

If you wonder about the correlations between remote work and productivity increase, fewer distractions to employees come, which generally happens when they are in the office (I can relate to that). Furthermore, they tend to be less tired because they are not commuting and are more structured with task tracking than in the office. In effect, newly remote workers actually worked harder from home during the pandemic.

Studies have shown the COVID pandemic has changed how some work is done for 74% of employers –  

What this means is that businesses have had the opportunity to scale their office footprint down permanently by making changes to their physical environment. Offerings such as touchless payments and choosing video services over physical face-to-face interactions (conferencing, interviews, assessments, etc.) were made. When telecommuting showed itself to be a strong potential for certain job functions to continue post-pandemic, permanent, or hybrid options meant that office space can be significantly reduced. This also included some sourcing out of specific talent or tasks that were no longer a major in-house need. The more that can be outsourced or done from home permanently the less office space will eventually be required and the more revenue returning to the bottom line.

One thing for sure we can safely say about remote work is that it is here to stay to some degree, becoming a vital consideration of an organization’s business continuity planning and crisis management plans. Organizations, now more than ever, will be required to establish processes, protocols, and procedures that will allow them to operate at a moment’s notice as best as they possibly can.

There is always room for improvement –  even though productivity has increased for some, the question remains to be seen for those who have not cracked the productivity code. Our families were all at home and that included our children attending remote schooling. Therefore the 9 – 5 workdays don’t necessarily work for some when working from home. A better option for accommodating personal and professional obligations may be flexible working hours to integrate both areas better. In these cases, work can be measured better by “getting things done” more than clocking in and out to a set routine daily.

Final Thoughts

As the return to office will be the focus of many organizations for the next few months, what are you willing to do to strike a balance and help support employees’ transition back? Revisiting processes, protocols, and current resources while keeping the well-being and mental health of the employees who serve and drive your organization’s goals and strategy in mind should place higher in your company’s hierarchy of priorities now.

The post Four Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned from a Global Pandemic appeared first on myEAblog.com.

Today’s organizations face a dynamic and challenging competitive landscape. Increased penetration of global markets, the pressure of an “always-on” audience, and a labor market that is difficult to meet demand mean that most businesses are on the lookout for the best thing that will place them at an advantage in winning. While there are many roads to take on the way to success, all of them are contingent on an organization’s people.

People bring an organization’s strategy to life; they plan, execute, innovate and communicate. Increasingly, organizations will win or lose on the strength of their employees.  The ability to attract employees and in the process, engage with them, develop, and retain them has become an important success factor for most organizations.

Whether you complete innovation, customer service, collaboration, or operational excellence, engaged and high-performing teams are likely the foundations for creating a competitive advantage.

How you Define People’s Success? People’s success is bringing your best self to work and doing your best work. With the race to succeed is at the forefront for most employees and organizations alike, performance is highly impacted by motivation. There are two types of motivations:

Extrinsic motivation – comes from external rewards such as money and recognition.

Intrinsic motivation – comes from within. It includes the personal rewards associated with a sense of achievement or purpose. For example, the joy one feels after accomplishing a challenging task or writing a book. Intrinsic motivation is the more powerful and sustainable of the two. But It’s much harder to quantify and control.

Traditional HR programs and systems have not typically factored in intrinsic motivation. Instead, they focus on performance-based, external rewards such as ratings, bonuses, and perks, ultimately at the cost of people’s happiness and optimal business results.

It’s time to simplify the approach and help people show up to do their best work every day. Practices like learning and development, employee engagement, and performance management are rarely integrated. Simultaneously, many HR programs have evolved to address better what we know about human motivations and behavior; these have been mainly distinct efforts to address individuals’ processes.

There’s a better way for organizations to align people strategy with business strategy and benefit the employee. Leaders have the opportunity to champion change and tear down the barriers that prevent people from being happier and more successful at work. It starts with people success, an approach that replaces traditional talent management programs with a holistic, agile, and people-centric approach that drives sustainable organizational success.

The Five Pillars of people Success

People success shifts the paradigm from separate programs mainly designed to serve the organization’s needs to an integrated approach. It provides organizations with a framework for building effective habits that leader to desired individual outcomes like motivation, productivity, performance, and engagement. Let’s take a more in-depth look at those five pillars:

1. Fit – your role matches your strengths and interests, and you feel a sense of belonging at work
2. Alignment – you know what success looks like, what to prioritize, and you get feedback that helps you change course if needed.
3. Enablement – you have the support, tools, and resources you need to work effectively
4. Motivation – you have the freedom to own your work, and you feel like you have a meaningful impact.
5. Growth – you are learning new skills, diversifying your experience, and progressing professionally.

According to some research and work closely done with global organizations following people success strategy when used as the foundation for regular manager-employee check-in conversations, the five pillars help ensure those discussions are focused on the engagement, performance, and growth of the employee.

• Help leaders assess whether their organization is on a path to success by succinctly evaluating the most important drivers of engagement and performance
• Guide people to find and create the right role for themselves, which helps leaders place people in the right roles.
• Ensure people are working on the right things and are consistently aligned with the team and organization.
• Revel most important, impactful, and simple opportunities to make it easier to do great work.
• Expand people’s view of career growth and give them the confidence to own their development, as a result, will deepen the connections people feel to their work and inspire them to bring their best selves to it.

While there is no single approach for people success that works for every organization, there are three key characteristics that help shape its effectiveness these are:

1. A holistic–integrated approach that includes the essential elements of employee engagement, performance, and growth. It also encourages broad data sharing with managers who can use the insights to inform conversations with their employees and teams. Integrated data also enables managers to lead more effective discussions with their employees about making changes by taking meaningful action.
2. Agile – in today’s competitive environment, the ability to adapt quickly to change, and developing habits that support organizational agility is central to people’s success. Regular feedback and touchpoints enable managers and organizations to make faster, better, and more informed decisions. It also creates a meaningful employee experience that addresses the individual’s needs and builds trust between participants by aligning expectations and avoiding surprises. Example: talking about goals regularly, and acknowledging that goals can change as fast as business conditions do. They are seeking feedback and taking action on it.
3. People-centric – employee-centered HR programs recognize that each person has unique needs and ambitions. Using the five pillars as a guide for assessing and discussing the employee experience, managers can create high-performing teams that feel supported because the manager understands the employee’s needs.

In Closing

In short, the people-centric design minimizes stressful situations or scenarios for employees. A growth mindset encourages productivity through learning; a people-centric approach happily welcomes a growth mindset, believing that talents aren’t fixed and can be developed through hard work, the right strategies, and input from others. A forward-looking orientation means employees no longer need to feel defined by past mistakes or miscalculations that can no longer be altered to change outcomes.

Instead, in the people success approach, employees and managers alike look at mistakes as learning opportunities, channeling their effort into adjusting behavior to be effective in the future. Organizations that embrace a growth mindset tend to have employees who feel far more empowered, committed, and productive.

Some of the information above has been adapted from Glint; a people success platform that leverages real-time people data to help global organizations.

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