Here are a few tips for new supervisors that can help you motivate your team and increase efficiency. This is a continuation of our “soft skills” series. In the first session, we talked about what soft skills are and why they are important in any role. Then, we divided these skills into four segments — leadership skills, management skills, supervisor skills, and interpersonal skills.

In this session, we are going to focus on the list of supervisory skills. As we talked about in the Soft Skills session, supervisor skills are a subset of managerial skills. Recall that leaders create the vision or new path. Then managers make the navigation of that path more efficient. Well, supervisors have the same goal as the manager. However, the supervisor often doesn’t yet have the authority to make changes to processes or personnel.

Supervisors are often managers-in-training. They are responsible for the results. However, in many cases, they may not have a lot of authority yet. As a result, people skills will be important to their success.

For full show notes, visit Tips for New Supervisors
https://www.leadersinstitute.com/tips-for-new-supervisors-five-simple-first-time-supervisor-tips-and-skills/

This week, we continue our leadership skills versus management skills series. In this episode, we cover a few key management skills. In fact, any organization will run more efficiently when management practices these skills. Just as a review, in the Soft Skills, What Are They episode, we talked about the three different types of soft skills.

First, we covered the Interpersonal Skills. We use interpersonal skills at all levels of business and they help us cooperate with others and build trust and rapport. Last week, we talked about Leadership Skills. A leader is a visionary person who can motivate and inspire the team to follow a new path.

This week, we will focus on Management Skills. Managers have a slightly different skill set than leaders. Once the path is already created, the manager makes the movement along that path more efficient and effective. So the leader creates the plan. Then, the manager implements the plan in the most efficient way possible.

5 Important Management Skills to Make Your Workplace More Efficient

Keep in mind that the manager and the leader can be the same person. However, in my experience, I find that these roles are very distinct. Most often, good leaders hire or partner with a person who is a good manager. When the two work together, they can accomplish fantastic things.

Here are the five skills that you want to look for if you hire a manager. Or, if you happen to be a manager, these are the skills that you want to maximize.

1. Goal Setting and Achievement
2. Organizational Skills
3. Time Management Skills
4. Delegation Is One of the Most Important Management Skills.
5. Group Problem Solving. Good Managers Get Their Teams to Solve Challenging Problems.

For full show notes, visit 5 Important Management Skills to Make Your Workplace More Efficient

https://www.leadersinstitute.com/5-important-management-skills-to-make-your-workplace-more-efficient/

On this episode, I interview Dr. Benjamin Ritter with Live for Yourself Consulting (https://www.liveforyourselfconsulting.com/). He has created a fascinating career helping people identify the talents that they have that they can turn into a career that they absolutely love. 

Interestingly, though, the beginning of the interview was even more interesting. Dr. Ritter shares how he used speaking events to build his company from scratch in just a few years. He also talks about how he pivoted during the Covid Pandemic to build his company even more... DURING a pandemic. You will love this interview.

You can connect with Dr. Ritter on LibnkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritterbenj/

When I first started The Leaders Institute ® folks would ask me, “What do you do?” I would answer with “I teach important leadership skills to executives.” Then I would get a blank stare looking back at me. Sometimes, the person would try to clarify and say something like, “oh, so like time management, right?” Of course, that wasn’t exactly what I was doing.

What I realized was that different people had dramatically different definitions of what leadership skills actually were. (In fact, for clarification, make sure to look at Soft Skills: What Are They?)

So, before I get into the 5 Important Leadership Skills, let me give you my definition of what they are.

If You Are an Executive, Focus on Building These Important Leadership Skills.

To grow as a leader and to build a great team, practice these leadership skills.

1. Innovation: Leaders Create the New Path.
2. Collaboration: Get Cooperation from Your Team Members and Other Leaders.
3. Vision: Have a Clear and Specific Picture of Where You and Your Team Are Going.
4. Motivation: It Will Get Hard, But Keep Moving Forward.
5. Creativity: When Those Obstacles Appear, Look for Ways to Move Around Them (or Through Them.)
6. Inspiration: Lead Your Team to Higher Levels of Creativity as Well.

For the full show notes, go to  6 Important Leadership Skills that Every Executive Needs to Develop
https://www.leadersinstitute.com/6-important-leadership-skills-that-every-executive-needs-to-develop/

My guest today is Andrew Wallas who is the author of the book Business Alchemy. However, he has a two-stage background that is very impressive. In the first couple of decades, he built a few HUGE businesses and cashout to the tune of millions of dollars. Then, in the next stage of his life, he began to study psychotherapy to help people overcome challenges and breakthrough to higher levels of success.

He is going to share some of his business alchemy with us today, so don't miss a second of the interview!

For more details about Andrew, visit https://andrewwallas.org/, or you can purchase his book at Business Alchemy.

Link to Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3atqUff

What are soft skills? Why are soft skills important to a person’s success? If you don’t know the answers to these two questions, you are, quite likely, passing up higher levels of income and freedom. When I first started The Leader’s Institute ®, I used to begin my High Impact Leaders class by giving my definition of soft skills. Basically, I’d explain that “hard skills” are the technical skills within your career or industry. For instance, if you are a doctor or nurse, the “hard skills” are your ability to assess the health of your patients and treat or cure their illnesses. “Soft skills,” however, allow you to effectively use those hard skills to do your job better. These skills include your ability to communicate effectively, manage your time, work with others, and build teamwork.

Unfortunately, there are about as many definitions for the different types of soft-skills as there are people in the world. So, in this article series, I’m going to attempt to categorize these abilities into easy-to-follow groups. This will help you focus on the specific skills most important to your career and your industry.

In this episode, we make these definitions easier to follow and understand. We also show you how to use these skills to increase your success.

For full show notes, got to What Are Soft Skills? Why Are Soft Skills Important?
https://www.leadersinstitute.com/soft-skills-what-are-soft-skills-and-why-are-they-important/

Developing leaders is a big goal of all organizations. No matter what size your company is, right now, it is a great time to start planning for the future. In fact, if your organization has a culture for developing leaders from within, you will attract better employees. In this session, we are going to pull back the curtain and show you how to build your own personal leadership. We will also show you how to tap into the untapped potential of your team. Follow this simple process, and you can also increase productivity quickly.

The Key to Developing Leaders Is to Start with “Leadership Skills Development.”

People are basically trainable in three different areas — Knowledge, Skill, and Attitude. Knowledge is all of the technical skills that we learn in High School, College, and On-the-Job Training. Skills are how we take that Knowledge and put it into practice. And, our Attitude is the confidence that we exhibit when we use that Skill.

Here is a simple example. Let’s say that we want to teach a kid to ride a bike. We may start the process with a few little pieces of knowledge. For instance, “The more that you pedal, the easier it is to keep your balance.” That is great knowledge. However, if we just tell the kid that information without any skill development, she will still be nervous. Without the skill development, her attitude about using the skill is low. In contrast, if you hold the back of the seat for her and let her get comfortable, the nervousness will go down. Then, if you run alongside her as she pedals, her attitude will improve more and more.

The key to understanding this is to ask yourself a few questions. Did the kid’s attitude improve because of the knowledge that we gave her? Or did she feel more confident because she actually developed a skill? The process is the same when developing leaders from within your ranks.

Developing Leaders: Leadership Skills Development Basics.

Don’t get me wrong. Knowledge is important. I like to describe knowledge as the ticket to get in the game. Without it, you are on the outside looking in. However, Let’s say that you are interviewing two potential candidates for a new position. Both of these candidates have the same degree from the same university. Also, both candidates have a similar level of experience. If that is the case you will likely make your choice based on their leadership potential.

You may look at how each one communicated during the interview process. Or, you might look for things like confidence, decisiveness, creativity, or people skills. These are what most people call leadership skills. The better a candidate scores in these areas, the more leadership potential we believe he or she may have.

In fact, in many cases, if one candidate is highly skilled in these leadership areas, he or she may be hired even if the other candidate has a better technical background.

For full show notes visit 

https://www.leadersinstitute.com/developing-leaders-the-5-step-leadership-skills-development-process/

This week, I give a few tips on how to reduce public speaking fear. If you have ever stood up in front of a group and forgot what you were going to say or felt the heart racing, then this episode is for you. These are 10 simple and time-tested ways to reduce stage fright or public speaking fear.

Listen fast, I go through each of the 10 public speaking tips very quickly. To view the full show notes, though, make sure to view my public speaking website, at

10 Ways to Eliminate Public Speaking Fear

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/10-simple-ways-to-get-over-the-fear-of-public-speaking/

Looking for a way to get a group to solve challenging problems without coming to blows? In this session, I’m going to cover a few effective group problem-solving techniques. In fact, the process below is known as the 5-Step Group Problem Solving process, and it is incredibly effective.

One of the more challenging leadership skills is getting a group to work together on a common problem. However, a group of individuals can be more creative and productive than any one person alone.

The key is to keep the team focused throughout the process. You also want to make sure that the process doesn’t devolve into a popularity contest. For instance, let’s say that one of the team leaders comes up with a great solution. However, this team leader has a rival who leads another team. As a result, the rival team leader offers a different solution.

The process can quickly change from determining a solution based on merit to one based on persuasion. Each team leader will try to win the group to his or her side. So, an effective group problem-solving process should be objective. It should also use the strengths of the entire team versus just one or two outspoken leaders.

Effective Group Problem Solving Techniques Needs to Utilize the Strengths of the Whole Group.

Perception is reality. Our experiences, successes, failures, and beliefs all create filters for our perception. If we perceive that facts are true based on our experience, we tend to hold onto these perceptions even when faced with refutable proof to the contrary.

For example, a child, who has no experience with dogs, tries to pet a neighborhood dog at the park. The dog growls, barks, and eventually bites the child. The child’s experience with dogs could create a perception that ALL dogs are mean or temper mental.

That single experience creates a filter or paradigm in the mind of the child. This paradigm clouds the person’s perception of reality. To that person, you can try to prove that most dogs are nice and loyal. But the argument may fall on deaf ears.

We all have these perceptions. Some work for us in a positive way and some are negative. For instance, when you bite into a piping hot pizza and singe the roof of your mouth, you learn something. You will, most likely, blow on the next bite to cool it before doing it again.

The point is that the sum of our experiences make us who we are. My experience is totally different from yours. As a result, my paradigms — my filters — are totally different as well.

For full show notes, visit 

https://www.leadersinstitute.com/problem-solving-tips/

How would you describe meetings you have attended in the past? Better yet… How would your team describe your meetings? Over the past 20 years, I have asked that question to over 1200 audience. Here are the most popular answers.

The Most Popular Responses to “How Would You Describe Your Meetings?

1. “Meetings are looooooooooong,” and
2. “Meetings are BOW-ring (this workshop was actually held in my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas – thus the Texas twang.)”

Those two responses almost always come up when I ask the question. Other answers include:

• Wastes of time.
• Non-productive.
• Confrontational.
• Inefficient.
• and Repetitive.

Every once in a while, I get a response like positive, informative, or necessary. However, usually the other participants gang-up against the person very quickly.

When People Are In Meetings, No Work Is Being Produced.

Most people believe that business meetings are necessary evils, and in many cases, they are. But one of the most important things we can remember about business meetings is to NOT have one unless it is absolutely necessary. When your employees and coworkers are in staff meetings, they are not producing. Nothing is ever produced until after the meeting is over. My first advice to people who want to make meetings more effective is to have fewer of them.

For full show notes go to Developing Efficient Meetings

https://www.leadersinstitute.com/articles/developing-efficient-meetings/