Upsize Your Leadership

Andrew Carnegie once described teamwork as "the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." As a manager or leader, your own success is either limited or expanded by the performance of your team. It therefore behooves you to build a team which is uncompromising in its commitment to high performance.

But what does high performance mean, exactly? The team has to make that decision for itself. Your first step in building a high-performing team is to gain team on how it will measure high performance. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind as you guide your team in that process. A printed transcript of this episode is available by following the download link at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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Studies have repeatedly shown that intrinsic motivations, not extrinsic ones, are the longest lasting in their impact. With an appropriate intrinsic paycheck, people often stay with an organization long after they have concluded that their extrinsic paycheck -- salary, bonuses, benefits, etc. -- is too small.

This episode looks at five intrinsic rewards which determine how motivated people will be to stay with your organization. These rewards have to do with why a person has chosen to be part of your organization rather than some others. If they are not finding satisfaction for that "why," they are already on a path toward disengagement or departure.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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Among other things, leaders are consensus builders. That’s part of their mandate to unite people around a course of action. Achieving consensus is not always an easy task. There are countless ways in which a leader’s effort at consensus-building can be blocked.

In this episode I lay out seven time-proven principles which leaders should keep in mind when working to forge a consensus. When these principles are followed carefully, the odds for building successful consensus are greatly enhanced. To download a printed copy of this episode, go to https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast and click on the link to download scripts.

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What are the most important leadership traits? Opinions on the subject are found in dozens of lists. But few of them include gratitude, which is unfortunate. Gratitude is the foundation for many vital attitudes and outlooks which make for great leadership. Gratitude promotes optimism, humility, and openness to others. It safeguards against resentment and bitterness, both deadly to good leadership. As this episode shows, gratitude is essential for leaders.

You can download a printed transcript of this episode at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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With the rise of empowerment styles of leadership, companies increasingly expect those who lead or manage to coach and mentor their people. Over the past 20 years I've helped a number of companies establish internal coaching or mentoring programs. And for several semesters I taught an MBA course on coaching skills for managers.

In this episode I offer an overview of how this emphasis on coaching has evolved and some of the differing approaches companies have taken in creating a coaching culture. For a printed transcript of this episode, follow the download link at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

The emphasis on having leaders who coach is a result of the evolutionary development of coaching, which began 30 years ago when executive coaching emerged as a sizable profession. Early on, external coaches were used almost exclusively by companies, and usually in an effort to salvage a manager whose career was tanking.

About the turn of the century, the pattern shifted, so that external coaches were engaged more often for developmental coaching of high-potential workers than for remedial coaching. This then set the stage for companies wanting to broaden the number of people in their organization who could benefit from coaching.

Since extending that benefit would be so expensive if the company relied on external coaches exclusively, interest quickly developed in building a culture of internal coaching, where leaders and managers were routinely coaching their people. This approach continues to expand and mature today. This episode provides an overview of that trend.

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Leaders must fully understand the distinction between conversation and communication., Because leadership is so interpersonal in nature, almost everything a leader does involves communication, either directly or indirectly.

This episode lays the foundation for understanding what truly constitutes communication. It examines four communication processes and analyzes seven levels of communication. Download a transcript of this episode at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast.

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In day-to-day conversation, "extravert" and "introvert" are used in ways which do not accord with their strict psychological definition. Leaders and managers need to understand the genuine meaning of extraversion and introversion if they are to bring out the best in their people.

In this program Dr. Mike examines both the popular meaning of these words and their psychological meaning, then explores important considerations when leading a mixed team of extraverts and introverts. Download a transcript of this episode at https://www.LeaderPerfect.com/podcast/episodes.

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Motivation is rooted in values. We are not motivated to do something which has no value to us. Leaders must understand their people's values well enough to build motivation and inspiration off of them. Equally important, leaders must understand how what people believe about a given value determines  the principles they will use to implement that value.

This episode looks at what Dr. Mike calls the VBP molecule -- the values, beliefs, and principles at the heart of motivation. Download a transcript of this episode at https://www.leaderperfect.com/podcast/episodes.

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How much time do you spend every day in personal self-development? Do you make the excuse that your schedule is too full to make time for daily self-enrichment? Interestingly, some of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world -- people with unbelievably busy schedules -- devote two or three hours each day to expanding their knowledge and know-how. They are true lifelong learners.

This episode looks at their example and identifies three vital priorities for people who would make personal self-development a daily priority. A PDF transcript of this program can be downloaded at LeaderPerfect.com/podcast/episodes.

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Like everyone else, leaders have a life purpose, a unique calling. When they can uncover that purpose and orchestrate their leadership around it, they position themselves for levels of personal fulfillment not otherwise possible.

In this episode Mike offers practical exercises for identifying the underlying purpose of our lives and utilizing that knowledge as leaders. A transcript of this podcast is available at LeaderPerfect.com/podcast/episodes.

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