High Impact Leaders

If you are like most people, you probably believe you are a great listener. The problem is that everyone else that you have to deal with needs to improve their listening skills, right? The truth is that this often-used term has two parts — “Listening” and “Skills.” We often overlook the second part. Skills are those strengths that we develop through consistent focus over time.

When I was a kid, our little town had a community center with a basketball gym. I wasn’t a member, by my best friend was. He went there three to four times a week to play ball with other kids. One weekend, I spent the night at his house, and he invited me to go to the gym with him. I spent 10 minutes or so practicing a few shots. Some other kids arrived, and we were divided into teams. Within the first couple of trips up and down the court, I realized that I had the least skill on the court. (Just as an FYI, I never did develop this skill.)

My point is that the other kids were much better than me at basketball because they practiced. I didn’t.

People who are effective listeners are effective listeners because they practice. You can be a good listener as well with just a little practice, yourself. In fact, listening is one of the most important skills in leadership development. If you want to be a great leader, the first step is to develop good communication skills. And the easiest way to do that is to develop active listening skills.

Show Notes: How to Improve Listening Skills in the Workplace

In this week's episode, I'm going to re-cover a topic that has become the second most downloaded episode we've ever released. The topic was on impromptu speaking or speaking off the cuff. And this episode has two parts, although I think I'll be able to cover the entire content in one episode.

So, for the first half, I'm going to give a few of my best tips on how to reduce nervousness and panic when someone asks you to speak out of the blue. And then, in the latter half, I'll give a simple three-step process to help you design an entire persuasive presentation off the cuff in just a matter of seconds.

It is one of those closely held secrets of great presenters. And folks who can do this are highly esteemed by their audiences.

Enjoy the episode on how to improve your impromptu speaking skills.

Show Notes: How to Improve Impromptu Speaking Skills

In this week's episode, I interview Amy Maybury, who is a senior instructor for The Leaders Institute. She has been doing a lot of custom workshops about how to empower your team and keep from falling into the trap where we try to micromanage.

So if you manage people or want to someday manage a team of people, she has four really simple steps that will help you help your team to grow. The steps also help you keep morale higher and to implement new ideas in the marketplace more efficiently.

Amy began her career in retail. Her first job out of school was as a manager in a department store. Then, she progressed into senior management for that company, first as a regional manager and then by owning and managing her own stores. Now, she travels around the country, teaching leaders how to manage their teams more effectively.

Show Notes: Empower Your Team without Micromanaging (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/empower-without-micromanaging-4-steps-to-empower-your-team/)

Small business lead generation can be tough, time-consuming, and expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. Once you identify who your top target audience is and what problems they have, you can get potential clients to contact you when they need help.

Every small business is the proverbial “Needle in the Haystack,” so small business lead generation is critical to an entrepreneur’s survival. And the better your sales team gets at lead generation, the faster your small business will grow into a big business. You need to create a strategy for finding new leads that become new customers.

Remember, it is a lot easier to turn a prospect or lead into a customer if the lead calls you versus when you call them. It cracks me up when I hear titles of articles, seminars, or books about how to “Make Effective Cold Calls” or how to “Warm Up Cold Calls.” Below are a few best practices that each is a great way of generating leads without an email list, a newsletter, or really, without ever having to make a cold call.

However, just like we covered in How to Network at Business Networking Events, business-to-consumer sales and business-to-business sales are totally different. So, developing qualified leads for consumers is totally different than generating qualified leads that are other businesses. So, as we go through the process, I’ll give examples of each type of lead generation strategy.

Here is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process for Small Business Lead Generation:

1. Before You Spend Time or Money on Small Business Lead Generation, Identify Who Your Target Market Is and What Problems They Have.
2. Create Brand Awareness by Posting Your Solutions to These Problems in Blog Posts and on Social Media Platforms.
3. Catalog Your Small Business Success with Case Studies and Sharing Customer Successes.
4. The Generate New Customers for Small Businesses, Focus on Referrals and Repeat Business.
5. If You Have to Cold Call in the Digital Age, Call to a Targeted List Who Already Knows You.

On this week's episode, I interview Joe Rare, who is the CEO of Level 9 Virtual. Joe is a fascinating guy who created multiple multimillion-dollar companies during the pandemic. And the focus of the interview is on how business owners need to focus only on the parts of their companies that generate revenue. And they should outsource everything else.

Joe tells about how he created his first company before most young people finish getting a degree. Then, how a few years later, he invested everything in real estate prior to the big market crash and lost everything.

So, a lot of his wisdom comes from his experience, and he is a great storyteller who makes the learning very fun.

If you are building a company or want to build your own company someday, make sure to bookmark this episode!

To connect with Joe or find out more about Level 9 Virtual, visit his website. (https://www.level9virtual.com/discovery-call-calendar)

This week is part 2 of the two-part series on how to find new customers at business networking events. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to build customers. And, if nothing else, it is, by far, the cheapest way to find new customers.

Last week, I covered a few networking skills to show you how to increase your sphere of influence. We talked about how networking is NOT selling. Instead, it is helping the people you interact with solve problems. And since most of the people you meet at business networking functions are there to promote themselves or their companies, if you help them do that, you become more influential within that group. People will want to interact with you.

This week, I cover how to pick the right business networking events to attend in order to find your best potential customers. In the first part of today's session, I explain the three types of people who attend the networking events. Those three types are (1) companies that sell to consumers in a regional area, (2) companies that sell to small businesses, and the last are (3) companies that sell to other companies.

People who work for each of these types of companies will want to attend totally different types of business networking events. Otherwise, you'll likely just be wasting your time.

Show Notes: How to Find Customers at Business Networking Events (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/increase-your-sphere-of-influence-how-to-network/)

This week I start a new series on how to find new customers at business networking events. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to build customers. And, if nothing else, it is, by far, the cheapest way to find new customers.

So in this series, I start with how to network to increase your sphere of influence. I give you a very simple process that works every single time. Then in the next couple of episodes, I'll show you how to find the best places to network to find new business.

If you want to get new customers from business networking events, you might want to adjust your strategy just a little. If you do, like most small businesses, and try to force a “networking opportunity,” you might just be shooting yourself in the foot. However, a networking group or local chamber of commerce can be a great place to find your next big potential client. But only if you (1) spend time building relationships and (2) network with the right people.

We are taught to create this word-of-mouth advertising by “going out and networking” within the business community. So we go to business network happy hours or professional networking events. Of course, the unstated goal when we attend these meetings is to meet new people and make new connections so that these people and connections will buy from us. If you think about it, though, why is everyone else attending?

Yup, that is correct. They are all their to try to sell or promote themselves to you as well. So a majority of the people in the room came primarily to sell to other people in the room.

See the problem?

For instance, very few chamber members go to Chamber of Commerce meetings to buy things. The odds seem to be stacked against the attendees from the beginning. So, it is no wonder why most of most leave these networking functions thinking that we just wasted their time.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. By making just a few simple changes to your approach, you can become a center of influence in any room. You can generate new opportunities for business growth by making valuable connections with other top professionals. In effect, we can use these meetings as a way to generate significant word-of-mouth advertising.

Show Notes: Get Customers from Business Networking Events (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/increase-your-sphere-of-influence-how-to-network/)

Last week, I started a two-part series on Owning Your Job. And as I mentioned last week, the phrase, Own Your Job, describes making yourself more valuable to either your company or clients so that you improve job security.

Last week I covered what Owning Your Job means and started the five things that you can do to advance your career, increase your income, and have more fun at work. The first two ways were taking the initiative and being a problem solver. This week, I cover the remaining three ways to Own Your Job.

Five Ways to Own Your Job, Build Long-Term Success, and Make You Indispensable to Your Employer.

1. Taking Initiative in Your Job Will Increase Productivity and Create Opportunities for Career Advancement.
2. Anticipating Problems Before They Arise Can Help You Proactively Support Your Team and the Organization.
3. Establishing Clear Goals for Yourself and Regularly Assessing Your Progress Improves Performance in Less Time.
4. Communicate Effectively to Improve Collaboration and Teamwork.
5. Taking Advantage of Training and Development Programs Will Help You Grow In Your Role.

Show Notes: Own Your Job (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/own-your-job-take-responsibility-and-be-more-accountable-in-your-job/)

This week, I'm going to cover a topic in which I'm ashamed to say that I almost missed the boat. One of our clients asked us to create a breakout session about "Owning Your Job." And I was a little taken aback because I wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for.

After about 10 minutes of research, though, I realized that this term or phrase is an easy way to describe many of the tips I covered a few weeks ago in the How to Build Wealth three-part series.

The phrase describes making yourself more valuable to either your company or clients so that you improve job security.

So today and continuing on next week's episode, I'm going to cover what Owning Your Job means and five things that you can do to advance your career, increase your income, and have more fun at work.

An employee who wants to keep their job shows up to work, but one that excels takes ownership of their work.

What does it really mean to take ownership, though? For starters, it’s about doing more than your job description. Developing your ownership mindset will help you reach your career goals and even excel beyond them.

The good news is that we’ve compiled five ways to develop your sense of ownership of your job:

1. Taking Initiative in Your Job Will Increase Productivity and Create Opportunities for Career Advancement.
2. Anticipating Problems Before They Arise Can Help You Proactively Support Your Team and the Organization.
3. Establishing Clear Goals for Yourself and Regularly Assessing Your Progress Improves Performance in Less Time.
4. Communicate Effectively to Improve Collaboration and Teamwork.
5. Taking Advantage of Training and Development Programs Will Help You Grow In Your Role.

Keep listening to learn more about how taking ownership for your job will create your best work!

Show Notes: Own Your Job to Get Ahead and Increase Your Income (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/own-your-job-take-responsibility-and-be-more-accountable-in-your-job/)

This week, I interview Kelsey Greenwood who is an expert on teamwork and team building. She just published a paper on how to effectively deal with team conflict as a leader.

So, I wanted to have her come in and let us know what she discovered. She basically outlines a very simple four-step process to help make team conflicts more beneficial to the team. 

We often talk about wanting to avoid or resolve conflicts. But Kelsey shows us that conflicts are actually very helpful if the team leader is using effective team conflict techniques.

On this episode, Kelsey shares four practical steps to handle team conflict in a way that is considerate, respectful, and empowering for all involved parties. Use these steps to navigate future conflicts with more confidence and ease.

Deal with Team Conflict in Four Simple Steps.

1. Ask Yourself, Where Can I Take Responsibility for this Team Conflict?
2. Try To Understand The Other Person’s Perspective Before Making Your Point.
3. Be Empathetic, But Direct In Your Team Communication.
4. During the Team Conflict, Invite the Other Person into the Conversation by Asking Questions.

By the way, if you are enjoying the podcast, I'd like to ask a favor of you. Would you mind leaving me a review on your podcast app? The podcast content is absolutely free, and positive reviews on Apple Podcast and Spotify help us keep the show free. It only takes a couple of seconds, and I appreciate the feedback so much.

So, enjoy the interview with Kelsey Greenwood.

Show Notes: 4 Steps To Effectively Handle Team Conflict As a Team Leader (https://team-building.org/4-steps-to-effectively-handle-team-conflict-as-a-team-leader/)