Coaching for Leaders

Carol Taylor: Vanguard University

Leaders face difficult situations when their organizations struggle through budgetary challenges. My guest, Carol Taylor, is all too familiar with such challenges and tells the story of the crisis that faced Vanguard University when she was appointed president. She is the author of Leading a Turnaround and the Joy of a Third Class Ticket found in Thriving Leadership edited by Karen Longman, and joins me on this episode to share her leadership journey at Vanguard.

Two challenges for you after listening to today's show:

Visit the Vanguard University website for inspiration on what wonderful work they are doing since emerging from this crisis

Share this episode with someone who is leading through a challenging time or crisis

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Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Authentic leaders know that there's more to an apology than simply the words "I'm sorry" - although that's a good starting point. Mistakes are inevitable, but few leaders are able to communicate a genuine apology. This week, Bonni returns to discuss how we can make our apologies more meaningful and genuine to the people who receive them.

Components of an authentic apology:

1) State "I'm sorry" or "I apologize" with sincerity

2) Be specific about what you are apologizing for and own it

3) Discuss what you will do to avoid the mistake in the future

Tell me what you did to incorporate something from our discussion above - I want to know what is working for you!

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Getting results isn't always easy, but the process is simple. In this episode, I'll review the 3 steps that you need to get the best results from the people you lead. I'll also point out many of the common mistakes that lots of us make when trying to follow these simple guidelines. If you aren't getting what you expect from people, this show is a must-listen for you.

What do I want for you?

People know what outcomes you want

People know when you're going to check-in

People expect consequences

1) Establish outcomes up front

Dictating the process makes it yours and takes away innovation

Establish the metrics for success

Let people decide how they will get there

2) Agree to regular check-ins

People don't need to feel micromanaged if check-ins are scheduled

If they are mostly on track, leave them alone…

If they are going off track, provide coaching…

3) Provide accountability

If something doesn't match the expectations - call people on it

Acknowledge people in some way - best is a thank you

Episode #9 - positive feedback

Episode #10 - constructive feedback

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If you are doing any type of serious leadership, you are going to hear complaining. As I discuss in this episode, complaining isn't always a bad thing, but you need to handle it appropriately as a leader. In this episode, I discuss seven ways to handle complainers in your organization.

1. Expect ingratitude “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” - Colin Powell

2. Give people time and a venue to complain

People don't always want a solution to their problems

Limit this time

3. Set the agenda in advance (and time frames)

Have them bring an agenda to the meeting

Follow that agenda

If they aren't ready for that, you set agenda and send to them in advance

4. Require solutions to problems

Ask people to always bring a realistic solution along with any complaint

They know the issue better than you do - they've thought it through

5. Set time limits and stick to them (see details in the 6 Habits to Keep People from Wasting Your Time article)

Let people know in advance how much time you have

End meetings on time

If you need to, book something else after the meeting

6. Be frank with people

Tell people why you aren't taking action

If they aren't coming with solutions, call them on it. Share examples.

7. Limit your interactions with that person (try the others first)

Gallup says that the best leaders spend a majority of their time with their best people

You don't have to always be available - schedule a time

Use caller ID

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Sandie Morgan: Global Center for Women & Justice

Questions are the language of coaches. Stories are the language of leaders. In this episode, I welcome Sandie Morgan, Director of the Global Center for Women & Justice at Vanguard University of Southern California, to speak about how she utilizes storytelling to influence the world.

Hear Sandie and Dave biweekly on the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

It's been a full year since I launched Coaching for Leaders, so in this special anniversary episode, Bonni and I look at a more personal topic: what leadership lessons we've learned from our son Luke in the first six months of his life. As you'll see, the lessons could apply to many relationships, both personal and professional.

What leadership lessons we've learned (or been reminded of) in our first six months of parenting:

Sleep deprivation can take down anybody.

Expectations are huge…and a bit of grace goes a long way.

No matter how organized you are, you will get barfed on.

There is true joy to be found anywhere and everywhere.

It's really not about you most of the time.

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Almost all of us are put into leadership roles where we need to influence people that we can't bark orders to. It's essential for all of us to learn how to lead without a formal title. In this episode, I explore 6 things you can do to lead others outside of title and position that will create better results for both of you.

1) Find out what's important to people - and then help them get it

Appreciate the past

Understand the present

Picture the future

Identify passions

ARTICLE LINK: 4 Ways to Prepare Your Team to See The Future

2) Go out of your way to recognize people

Write thank you notes - I write at least 1-2 each week

Do everyone possible to share people's name is a positive way publicly

Use people's names

3) Make decisions for the long-run

4) Don't love 'em and leave 'em

5) Engage your opponents

Take time to listen to people who disagree with you

You don't have to agree - but understand where they are coming from

6) Have a sense of humor

Groundhog day

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All of us would like to believe that we can lead in such a way where people would never drive us nuts. Of course, that's not reality - and we've all had to deal with people many times that push our buttons in all the wrong ways. In this episode, I share a recent experience I had where someone was driving me nuts and what mistakes I made (and advise I have) for leading when this happens.

Here are nine things you can do to lead when someone is driving you nuts:

1) Ask yourself, it is personality or performance?

Rarely do we get to decide what personalities we get to work with and lead.

If it's personality, challenge yourself to be flexible.

2) Give people the benefit of the doubt.

Almost nobody wakes up in the morning with the goal to make other people miserable.

3) Address non-performance early.

If there is a clear performance issue, address it early.

Trust your instincts and those of the people around you.

What should it be? For me, 2 incidents.

People know you are watching, that you care, and what the expectations are.

4) Tell people you are giving them a second chance.

Error on the side of over-communicating here.

5) Use email wisely (and Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Stay off posting or sending things in writing when you are mad.

Follow-up expectations with an email summary.

6) Find out if it can be fixed before losing your cool.

Most everything can be fixed.

7) Sleep on it.

We don't make good decisions when we're tired.

We anger faster.

We take twice and long to handle stuff.

We don't have perspective.

We have the tendency to fire off emails.

8) Let other people do their jobs once you've raised a concern.

Sometimes you'll get punished for being proactive.

9) Decide how much of your time and energy this is worth.

Dale Carnegie says, "Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth and refuse to give it more."

This too shall pass.

Often I find that I am angry at myself when I feel like I am angry at others.

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Everyone interacts with the world differently, but there are two broad ends of the spectrum that can help us understand how we see the world and how we can support those that we lead. In this episode, we'll look extensive at the judging-perceiving personality type preference and how appreciating both sides can help you to understand and lead others more effectively.

Are you a Chaos Muppet or an Order Muppet? Check out this article from Slate.

Judging preference

Organized

Scheduled

Planned

Energized by planning

Tips for leaders who prefer judging:

Not everyone will have planned things out as well as you have

Watch out for micromanagement

You're going to need to be flexible with the real world

How to lead those with a judging preference:

Get them in the room when doing long-term planning and scheduling

Coach them if they get too caught up in their planning

Help people recognize when they need to be flexible

Perceiving preference

Spontaneous

Adaptable

Flexible

Energized by deadlines

Tips for leaders who prefer perceiving:

Be careful not to change directions too many times on people

There are huge advantages to giving people more time

Remember that you can (and likely will) drive those with a judging preference nuts

How to lead those with an perceiving preference:

Coach them if they aren't trending towards making decisions

Tap into their strengths when things need to change direction quickly

Let them be flexible in the workplace (workday, schedule, timeline)

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We all make decision as leaders, but we don't all make decisions the same way. Our personalities influence what becomes important and prominent in our decision-making. In this episode, I explore the two dichotomies that help explain how we make decisions. Then, I discuss strategies leaders can use with folks who have preferences for each dichotomy in order to understand how we can make better decisions.

Thinking preference

Analysis

Objective

Egalitarian

Tips for leaders who prefer thinking:

Watch out for over-analysis

Listen to how people feel about the situation

Know that you can't always be perfectly objective - consider the other side too

How to lead those with a thinking preference:

They are going to want data

Coach them if they might appear cold to others

Watch out for impact on one person

Feeling preference

Impact on people

Values-based (my work - what inspires me)

Individual considered

Tips for leaders who prefer feeling:

Spend time to consider the data in your decisions

Know that the business work tends to understand "thinking" better

Watch out for getting to tied into one person or cause on a decision

How to lead those with a feeling preference:

Discuss how decisions will impact people

Coach them to consider data in their decisions and explanations of their decisions

Talk in terms on decisions and values

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.