LEADERSHIP SKILLS
This module demonstrates the difference between influence and authority, the connection between self-esteem and success, helps develop motivational strategies, explains the power of positive reinforcement, and helps develop skills in dealing with change.
Basic Principles of Positive Leadership
Self-Esteem
We all need to remember that the right mental conditioning can be the key to achieving our goals in life.
What if you expect to fail, guess? You probably will. But if you truly expect to succeed, your mind will take you through your door of success. It all depends how you feel about yourself
Self-esteem develops in the same manner as attitudes: over long periods of time. You are not born knowing who you are or what you are.
You acquire your image of yourself over time by realizing your natural abilities and by constantly receiving messages about yourself from the people closest to you and from your environment.
Your self-esteem has a powerful impact on your behavior at work. Generally, people with low self-esteem tend to have more trouble with interpersonal relationships and are less productive then people with high self-esteem. They may experience the "failure syndrome."
What is failure syndrome?
If a person's subconscious mind has been saturated with thoughts and fears of failure, these thoughts will continue to under mine their efforts to achieve their goals. They have a fear of taking action or taking a risk because they expect to fail again.
People with low self-esteem tend to maintain an external focus of control. More simply put, people with low self-esteem believe their behavior is controlled by someone or something in their environment. How many times have you heard "It's not my fault, he made me do it."
They exhibit poor human relations skills. Research studies repeatedly show that individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to feel hostile, show a lack of respect for others, and attempt to retaliate against others to save face in difficult situations.
People with low self-esteem tend to exercise less initiative, hesitate to accept responsibility or make independent decisions, and refuse to ask for help. They are scared that others might think that they are incompetent. They also often lie in an attempt to cover their mistakes rather than admit it and take the consequences.
People with low self-esteem tend to participate in self-destructive behaviors. In other words, if you don't like yourself, why take care of yourself.
People with high self esteem display quite different characteristics. They are future oriented and not overly concerned with past mistakes or failures. They learn from their mistakes instead of being immobilized by them.
They are able to cope with life's problems and disappointments. People with high self-esteem are able to feel all dimensions of emotions without letting those emotions affect their behavior in a negative way.
In other words they might experience emotions of anger, envy, or jealousy, but they exercise self-control. Basically they keep in mind that they can't help the way they feel right then but they can help the way they think and act.
People with high self-esteem are able to help others and, more importantly, accept help. They are not threatened by helping others to succeed, nor are they afraid to admit weakness. People with high self-esteem realize that by helping others succeed, they benefit as well.
There is an old adage in business, which goes: First-rate people hire First-rate people. Second-rate people hire Third-rate people.
People with high self-esteem are sure to accept other people as unique, talented individuals.
Finally, people with high self-esteem exhibit a variety of self-confident behaviors. For example, they let others be right or wrong without attempting to correct or ridicule them.
Accentuate the Positive
Most of us have been brought up to believe that it is not “right” to say nice things about one’s self or, for that matter, about others. We’re going to do an exercise now that attempts to change that attitude!
In the space provided below, write out your answers to all three of the following statements:
1. Two physical attributes I like in myself.
2. Two personality qualities I like in myself.
3. One talent or skill I like in myself
Each comment must be a positive one. No negative comments are allowed!
1.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
2.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ _______
3.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ _______
Expectations
Your thoughts about yourself are often expressed in terms of expectations: how far you believe you can go and what you feel you can do. People tend to behave in a way that supports their own ideas of how successful or incompetent they are. This somewhat mysterious power of expectation is often referred to as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is meant by the term self-fulfilling prophecy?
Remember, a person’s self-fulfilling prophecy will have a positive or negative effect on his or her job performance and future in general. Your self-fulfilling image reflects a connection between your own expectations for yourself and your resulting behavior.
But people can also be greatly influenced by the expectation of others. Have you ever heard of the Pygmalion effect?
The Pygmalion effect is an effect, which sometimes causes people to become what others expect them to become. This term was first used by a professor at Harvard University, Robert Rosenthal, and is based on a Greek legend about Pygmalion, the King of Cyprus.
In the legend, the king longed for an ideal or perfect wife. Because no mortal woman met his expectations, he fashioned a statue of is ideal wife out of ivory, and eventually he fell in love with his creation. His desire to make the statue his wife was so intense that his belief brought her to life.
Research by Professor Rosenthal supported the premise that there is a distinct relationship between a person’s level of motivation and the expectation of others.
Example of the Pygmalion Effect
Let’s take a look at a few examples of the Pygmalion effect.
One study described the effect of teachers’ expectations of students’ performance. When teachers had high expectations for certain students (those students which the teachers had been lead to believe had higher intellectual and learning capabilities), those students learned at a faster rate. What was discovered was that the teachers unintentionally communicated their high expectation to the students and the students rose to the challenge.
Another example can be found in our everyday work setting. If we set high expectations for our employees, what do you think we will get?
In a nutshell, whatever you as a superior expect is usually what you’ll get.
How can this idea be applied in your Territory / Area / Division / Zone? Write your answer below:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
Building Esteem
So how do we as managers help to build self-esteem in our subordinates?
Well, you probably anticipated this next statement: we need to start with ourselves.
Identify and accept your limitations. Accept your limitations and become realistic about who you are and what you can and cannot do. Don’t try to demand perfection, live up to the “super person image, or live up to the “super achiever” image.
Take responsibility for your decisions, for communications, and for building relationships.
Develop expertise in some area. Identify and cultivate a skill or talent you have and develop “expert power.” This builds not only your self-esteem but it also increase the value of your contribution to the organization.
Set and achieve your goals. Use visualization, simulation, and monitor your self-talk. Positive self-talk is a way to override past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with a positive new direction.
So now we know how to help ourselves build self-esteem. How do we help others?
Although each of us is ultimately responsible for raising or lowering our own self-esteem, we as managers can make that task easier or more difficult for our subordinates.
There are five factors that we can use to enhance the self-esteem of the people in our organization.
1. People need to feel valuable. Recognize individual differences and accomplishments.
2. People need to feel competent. Involve them in training programs.
3. People need to feel secure. Keep them well informed, let them know what is expected of them, and provide frequent feedback.
4. People need to feel empowered. Opinions and views and suggestions matter and are being implemented.
5. People need to feel connected.
Positive Reinforcement
This simple rule can save you countless hours of frustration and extra work, it can save our company thousands or even millions of Rupees: “You get what you reinforce!”
Here’s why: You may think that you are reinforcing your subordinates to do the things that you want them to do, but are you really?
Consider the following example: You have two Subordinates. Mr. A is incredibly talented and Mr. B is a marginal employee. You give similar assignments to both of them.
Mr. A completes the assignment before it is due and turns it in with no errors. Because he is already done, you give him another assignment. Meanwhile, Mr. B is not only late but when he turns the report in, it is full of errors. Because you are now really in a time crunch, you take the report and correct it yourself.
What’s wrong with this picture? Who is being rewarded: A or B?
Mr. B is the right answer. This person has learned that submitting work late and full of errors is okay. In fact, you have reinforced his behavior in such a way that he has you trained to fix his blunders.
A growing number of organizations, no matter what the size, are using some form of recognition to build morale, improve quality and reward employees for their accomplishments. When a particular behavior is followed by a positive outcome, we are more likely to repeat the behavior.
In the work setting, positive reinforcement can be described as the practice of providing an incentive, award, praise, bonus, etc. that will increase the likelihood that the person will repeat the reinforced behavior.
In today’s competitive environment, companies are demanding that work be done faster and more efficiently. Achieving these dual goals puts added pressure on the field people. In a negative, stressful environment, these pressures result in physical fatigue, loss of energy, decreased optimism and lower morale.
On the other hand, a positive work climate is more apt to instill them with positive energy, which results in greater strength of will, increased optimism and higher employee morale. Positive energy is what helps us cope with disappointments, uncertainty, and work that is physically and mentally demanding. Positive feedback can generate this positive energy.
Negative energy is created when good performance is ignored or taken for granted. Even the most highly motivated, successful, energetic people will feel taken for granted if they do not receive occasional praise. People who feel unappreciated do not perform well or to the best of their abilities. People who work in a negative climate will be less effective in developing a positive relationship or providing good customer relations.
“You cannot expect your subordinates to delight your customers, unless you as an superior delight your subordinate.”
Studies have pointed out that many superiors have different understanding of subordinate-reward preferences then the actual fact.
Asked to rank morale-building factors according to what they feel their employees want from a job, management personnel gave high marks to such factors as:
1) Good pay, 2) Job security, 3) Good working conditions, in that order.
On the flip side, when employees were asked to rank morale-building factors, the story was little different. They gave top place to:
1) Full appreciation for work done, 2) Interesting work, and 3) A feeling of being “in” on things
Thus, where they mismatch, the problems arise. Companies will lose good people on failing to pay attention to their reward preferences.
The question becomes: How strong is our need to receive positive reinforcement from others? Many psychologists believe that the craving to be appreciated is a basic principle of human nature.
Mark Twain said he could live for three weeks on a compliment. Few people, including those of us in this room, have the strength of ego to maintain high self-esteem without positive feedback from others.
Most of us really don’t know if we have performed well until some other person tells us. Authors of the One-Minute Manager stress the importance of “Catching the employee doing something right!” and then engaging in praising that individual. Without this positive feedback, employees will have a sense of incompleteness.
B.F. Skinner maintained that any living organism will tend to repeat a particular behavior if that behavior is accompanied or followed by a reinforcer. A reinforcer is any stimulus that follows a response and increase the probability that the response will occur again.
Many companies, because of the ever-changing dynamics of competition and market share, are not in positions to give raises. One of those has been Federal Express. So they have turned to more and more non-cash incentives. Some of those non-cash incentives are as simple as sending thank you notes to employees. Actually, Federal Express has sent 50,000 thank you notes last year alone to their employees.
This type of recognition is just one example of “stroking.” Stroking is used to describe the various forms of recognition one person gives another. There can be a physical stroke, such as a pat on the back or a smile, or a verbal stroke, words of praise and an expression of gratitude.
“Warm fuzzies” are also positive feedback. Let’s take a moment to think about our fellow colleagues. Do any of them continually fish for compliments or spend a lot of time finding fault with themselves? If you can identify someone who fits that scenario, they are what is called “stroke deficient.”
Both of those tendencies should alert their managers that they might have the need for more positive reinforcement.
How to Confront Poor Performance
Sometimes we forget some of the basic principles of meaningful recognition.
There are 8 basic guidelines to positive recognition:
1. Make people feel like winners.
2. Recognize them as members of a group as well as individuals.
3. Make sure the recognition is appropriate for the achievement.
4. Give recognition in a way that conveys sincere appreciation.
5. Be sure the recognition fully acknowledges the people’s accomplishments.
6. Recognize the people as well as the achievement.
7. Make sure the recognition is equal to the recognition you have given others for similar achievements.
8. Tailor recognition is timely.
Remember one important point: motivated people means greater productively and efficiency, which means more power to the supervisor!
DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leaders are both born and made. See if you have what it takes to be a manager, and what you can do to improve the skills you already have.
10 Qualities of a Leader—and How to Acquire Them
Managers don't become leaders overnight. Even “born” leaders don’t start out possessing all these skills. To be a strong leader, you need to:
1. Have vision. Leaders have a clear sense of where they want to go and how they intend to get there. They see the big picture, then create a strategic plan for achieving their goals.
Learn how to develop your vision : Befriend top business leaders in your community (not necessarily just those in real estate), read new and classic business books and great leaders’ biographies, and formulate a mission statement for your company. Sites for top business books include: BestBookBuys and Two-Day.com.
2. Make decisions. Leaders aren’t afraid to make difficult or unpopular decisions because they have confidence in themselves and in their abilities. They know that indecision wastes resources and opportunities.
Learn to hone your decision-making skills : Practice making decisions in areas where failure isn’t critical to increase your confidence. If a decision turns out to be wrong, learn from it and move on.
3. Take risks. Leaders have the courage to act in situations where results aren’t assured. They're willing to risk failure.
Learn how to take risks: Analyze the situation, listing pros and cons for each option, then assign each choice a risk factor rating from 1 to 5. Next determine the likelihood that each outcome will occur. This will help you determine how much risk you want to take.
TIP: Don't expect perfection. No one wins all the time. Leaders grow by making mistakes.
4. Motivate others. Leaders can articulate their vision and ideals to others, convincing them of the value of their ideas. They can inspire people to work toward common goals and to achieve things they never thought they could do.
Learn how to motivate people: Explore the different needs that motivate people and recognize that the same rewards don’t motivate everyone. Listen carefully to others to learn what motivates them.
TIP: Motivate employees by making sure they understand how their work contributes to a larger goal.
5. Build teams. Leaders create productive teams that draw the best from people. They effectively coach teams in collaboration, consensus building, and conflict resolution.
Learn how to improve your teambuilding skills : Avoid preconceived answers to every question. Concentrate on appreciating different points of view during discussions rather than just trying to prove your point. This same willingness to include others is the key to successful teambuilding.
6. Possess self-knowledge. Leaders know their own strengths and weaknesses and are able to view their behavior objectively. They recognize their shortcomings, open themselves to feedback, and are willing to make changes when necessary.
Learn how to expand your self-knowledge : Study yourself closely and practice self-assessment techniques to learn how you behave and the effects you have on others. Ask others for their opinions or criticisms and what you can do to become a better leader. Dr. Gerald Bell, business consultant and professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
TIP: Keep a journal of critical incidents; look back and learn what you did well and what you might have done better.
7. Display integrity. Leaders must be trustworthy before others will follow them. Warren Bennis, The Leadership Institute, University of Southern California, says qualities that establish trust are competence, constancy, caring, candor, and congruity, which he defines as authenticity, reliability, and feeling comfortable with oneself.
Learn how to assess your integrity: Actively seek feedback from others friends, co-workers, and even employees to determine if your values and sense of responsibility coincide with those of your peer group.
8. Pursue lifelong learning. Leaders have a desire to continually learn and grow and are open to new ideas.
Learn how to expand your knowledge: Maintain a broad focus. Look beyond your colleagues and your own industry for ideas and inspiration and read books on new management theories and ideas.
TIP: Wise managers look for support staff or partners who complement their weaknesses.
9. Communicate effectively. Leaders can convey their ideas to diverse individuals and adjust their styles to meet the needs of the people they lead.
Learn how to improve communication skills : Practice communications skills such as active listening. Read between the lines during conversations, especially when dealing with subordinates who may be reluctant to say what they think. Restate important points in several ways or ask listeners to reiterate your point to you to ensure that your meaning is clear.
10. Help others succeed. Leaders empower others and go out of their way to help them achieve their full potential, thereby benefiting the organization.
From India, Coimbatore
733This module demonstrates the difference between influence and authority, the connection between self-esteem and success, helps develop motivational strategies, explains the power of positive reinforcement, and helps develop skills in dealing with change.
Basic Principles of Positive Leadership
Self-Esteem
We all need to remember that the right mental conditioning can be the key to achieving our goals in life.
What if you expect to fail, guess? You probably will. But if you truly expect to succeed, your mind will take you through your door of success. It all depends how you feel about yourself
Self-esteem develops in the same manner as attitudes: over long periods of time. You are not born knowing who you are or what you are.
You acquire your image of yourself over time by realizing your natural abilities and by constantly receiving messages about yourself from the people closest to you and from your environment.
Your self-esteem has a powerful impact on your behavior at work. Generally, people with low self-esteem tend to have more trouble with interpersonal relationships and are less productive then people with high self-esteem. They may experience the "failure syndrome."
What is failure syndrome?
If a person's subconscious mind has been saturated with thoughts and fears of failure, these thoughts will continue to under mine their efforts to achieve their goals. They have a fear of taking action or taking a risk because they expect to fail again.
People with low self-esteem tend to maintain an external focus of control. More simply put, people with low self-esteem believe their behavior is controlled by someone or something in their environment. How many times have you heard "It's not my fault, he made me do it."
They exhibit poor human relations skills. Research studies repeatedly show that individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to feel hostile, show a lack of respect for others, and attempt to retaliate against others to save face in difficult situations.
People with low self-esteem tend to exercise less initiative, hesitate to accept responsibility or make independent decisions, and refuse to ask for help. They are scared that others might think that they are incompetent. They also often lie in an attempt to cover their mistakes rather than admit it and take the consequences.
People with low self-esteem tend to participate in self-destructive behaviors. In other words, if you don't like yourself, why take care of yourself.
People with high self esteem display quite different characteristics. They are future oriented and not overly concerned with past mistakes or failures. They learn from their mistakes instead of being immobilized by them.
They are able to cope with life's problems and disappointments. People with high self-esteem are able to feel all dimensions of emotions without letting those emotions affect their behavior in a negative way.
In other words they might experience emotions of anger, envy, or jealousy, but they exercise self-control. Basically they keep in mind that they can't help the way they feel right then but they can help the way they think and act.
People with high self-esteem are able to help others and, more importantly, accept help. They are not threatened by helping others to succeed, nor are they afraid to admit weakness. People with high self-esteem realize that by helping others succeed, they benefit as well.
There is an old adage in business, which goes: First-rate people hire First-rate people. Second-rate people hire Third-rate people.
People with high self-esteem are sure to accept other people as unique, talented individuals.
Finally, people with high self-esteem exhibit a variety of self-confident behaviors. For example, they let others be right or wrong without attempting to correct or ridicule them.
Accentuate the Positive
Most of us have been brought up to believe that it is not “right” to say nice things about one’s self or, for that matter, about others. We’re going to do an exercise now that attempts to change that attitude!
In the space provided below, write out your answers to all three of the following statements:
1. Two physical attributes I like in myself.
2. Two personality qualities I like in myself.
3. One talent or skill I like in myself
Each comment must be a positive one. No negative comments are allowed!
1.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
2.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ _______
3.
__________________________________________________ _______ __________________________________________________ _______
__________________________________________________ _______
Expectations
Your thoughts about yourself are often expressed in terms of expectations: how far you believe you can go and what you feel you can do. People tend to behave in a way that supports their own ideas of how successful or incompetent they are. This somewhat mysterious power of expectation is often referred to as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is meant by the term self-fulfilling prophecy?
Remember, a person’s self-fulfilling prophecy will have a positive or negative effect on his or her job performance and future in general. Your self-fulfilling image reflects a connection between your own expectations for yourself and your resulting behavior.
But people can also be greatly influenced by the expectation of others. Have you ever heard of the Pygmalion effect?
The Pygmalion effect is an effect, which sometimes causes people to become what others expect them to become. This term was first used by a professor at Harvard University, Robert Rosenthal, and is based on a Greek legend about Pygmalion, the King of Cyprus.
In the legend, the king longed for an ideal or perfect wife. Because no mortal woman met his expectations, he fashioned a statue of is ideal wife out of ivory, and eventually he fell in love with his creation. His desire to make the statue his wife was so intense that his belief brought her to life.
Research by Professor Rosenthal supported the premise that there is a distinct relationship between a person’s level of motivation and the expectation of others.
Example of the Pygmalion Effect
Let’s take a look at a few examples of the Pygmalion effect.
One study described the effect of teachers’ expectations of students’ performance. When teachers had high expectations for certain students (those students which the teachers had been lead to believe had higher intellectual and learning capabilities), those students learned at a faster rate. What was discovered was that the teachers unintentionally communicated their high expectation to the students and the students rose to the challenge.
Another example can be found in our everyday work setting. If we set high expectations for our employees, what do you think we will get?
In a nutshell, whatever you as a superior expect is usually what you’ll get.
How can this idea be applied in your Territory / Area / Division / Zone? Write your answer below:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
Building Esteem
So how do we as managers help to build self-esteem in our subordinates?
Well, you probably anticipated this next statement: we need to start with ourselves.
Identify and accept your limitations. Accept your limitations and become realistic about who you are and what you can and cannot do. Don’t try to demand perfection, live up to the “super person image, or live up to the “super achiever” image.
Take responsibility for your decisions, for communications, and for building relationships.
Develop expertise in some area. Identify and cultivate a skill or talent you have and develop “expert power.” This builds not only your self-esteem but it also increase the value of your contribution to the organization.
Set and achieve your goals. Use visualization, simulation, and monitor your self-talk. Positive self-talk is a way to override past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with a positive new direction.
So now we know how to help ourselves build self-esteem. How do we help others?
Although each of us is ultimately responsible for raising or lowering our own self-esteem, we as managers can make that task easier or more difficult for our subordinates.
There are five factors that we can use to enhance the self-esteem of the people in our organization.
1. People need to feel valuable. Recognize individual differences and accomplishments.
2. People need to feel competent. Involve them in training programs.
3. People need to feel secure. Keep them well informed, let them know what is expected of them, and provide frequent feedback.
4. People need to feel empowered. Opinions and views and suggestions matter and are being implemented.
5. People need to feel connected.
Positive Reinforcement
This simple rule can save you countless hours of frustration and extra work, it can save our company thousands or even millions of Rupees: “You get what you reinforce!”
Here’s why: You may think that you are reinforcing your subordinates to do the things that you want them to do, but are you really?
Consider the following example: You have two Subordinates. Mr. A is incredibly talented and Mr. B is a marginal employee. You give similar assignments to both of them.
Mr. A completes the assignment before it is due and turns it in with no errors. Because he is already done, you give him another assignment. Meanwhile, Mr. B is not only late but when he turns the report in, it is full of errors. Because you are now really in a time crunch, you take the report and correct it yourself.
What’s wrong with this picture? Who is being rewarded: A or B?
Mr. B is the right answer. This person has learned that submitting work late and full of errors is okay. In fact, you have reinforced his behavior in such a way that he has you trained to fix his blunders.
A growing number of organizations, no matter what the size, are using some form of recognition to build morale, improve quality and reward employees for their accomplishments. When a particular behavior is followed by a positive outcome, we are more likely to repeat the behavior.
In the work setting, positive reinforcement can be described as the practice of providing an incentive, award, praise, bonus, etc. that will increase the likelihood that the person will repeat the reinforced behavior.
In today’s competitive environment, companies are demanding that work be done faster and more efficiently. Achieving these dual goals puts added pressure on the field people. In a negative, stressful environment, these pressures result in physical fatigue, loss of energy, decreased optimism and lower morale.
On the other hand, a positive work climate is more apt to instill them with positive energy, which results in greater strength of will, increased optimism and higher employee morale. Positive energy is what helps us cope with disappointments, uncertainty, and work that is physically and mentally demanding. Positive feedback can generate this positive energy.
Negative energy is created when good performance is ignored or taken for granted. Even the most highly motivated, successful, energetic people will feel taken for granted if they do not receive occasional praise. People who feel unappreciated do not perform well or to the best of their abilities. People who work in a negative climate will be less effective in developing a positive relationship or providing good customer relations.
“You cannot expect your subordinates to delight your customers, unless you as an superior delight your subordinate.”
Studies have pointed out that many superiors have different understanding of subordinate-reward preferences then the actual fact.
Asked to rank morale-building factors according to what they feel their employees want from a job, management personnel gave high marks to such factors as:
1) Good pay, 2) Job security, 3) Good working conditions, in that order.
On the flip side, when employees were asked to rank morale-building factors, the story was little different. They gave top place to:
1) Full appreciation for work done, 2) Interesting work, and 3) A feeling of being “in” on things
Thus, where they mismatch, the problems arise. Companies will lose good people on failing to pay attention to their reward preferences.
The question becomes: How strong is our need to receive positive reinforcement from others? Many psychologists believe that the craving to be appreciated is a basic principle of human nature.
Mark Twain said he could live for three weeks on a compliment. Few people, including those of us in this room, have the strength of ego to maintain high self-esteem without positive feedback from others.
Most of us really don’t know if we have performed well until some other person tells us. Authors of the One-Minute Manager stress the importance of “Catching the employee doing something right!” and then engaging in praising that individual. Without this positive feedback, employees will have a sense of incompleteness.
B.F. Skinner maintained that any living organism will tend to repeat a particular behavior if that behavior is accompanied or followed by a reinforcer. A reinforcer is any stimulus that follows a response and increase the probability that the response will occur again.
Many companies, because of the ever-changing dynamics of competition and market share, are not in positions to give raises. One of those has been Federal Express. So they have turned to more and more non-cash incentives. Some of those non-cash incentives are as simple as sending thank you notes to employees. Actually, Federal Express has sent 50,000 thank you notes last year alone to their employees.
This type of recognition is just one example of “stroking.” Stroking is used to describe the various forms of recognition one person gives another. There can be a physical stroke, such as a pat on the back or a smile, or a verbal stroke, words of praise and an expression of gratitude.
“Warm fuzzies” are also positive feedback. Let’s take a moment to think about our fellow colleagues. Do any of them continually fish for compliments or spend a lot of time finding fault with themselves? If you can identify someone who fits that scenario, they are what is called “stroke deficient.”
Both of those tendencies should alert their managers that they might have the need for more positive reinforcement.
How to Confront Poor Performance
Sometimes we forget some of the basic principles of meaningful recognition.
There are 8 basic guidelines to positive recognition:
1. Make people feel like winners.
2. Recognize them as members of a group as well as individuals.
3. Make sure the recognition is appropriate for the achievement.
4. Give recognition in a way that conveys sincere appreciation.
5. Be sure the recognition fully acknowledges the people’s accomplishments.
6. Recognize the people as well as the achievement.
7. Make sure the recognition is equal to the recognition you have given others for similar achievements.
8. Tailor recognition is timely.
Remember one important point: motivated people means greater productively and efficiency, which means more power to the supervisor!
DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leaders are both born and made. See if you have what it takes to be a manager, and what you can do to improve the skills you already have.
10 Qualities of a Leader—and How to Acquire Them
Managers don't become leaders overnight. Even “born” leaders don’t start out possessing all these skills. To be a strong leader, you need to:
1. Have vision. Leaders have a clear sense of where they want to go and how they intend to get there. They see the big picture, then create a strategic plan for achieving their goals.
Learn how to develop your vision : Befriend top business leaders in your community (not necessarily just those in real estate), read new and classic business books and great leaders’ biographies, and formulate a mission statement for your company. Sites for top business books include: BestBookBuys and Two-Day.com.
2. Make decisions. Leaders aren’t afraid to make difficult or unpopular decisions because they have confidence in themselves and in their abilities. They know that indecision wastes resources and opportunities.
Learn to hone your decision-making skills : Practice making decisions in areas where failure isn’t critical to increase your confidence. If a decision turns out to be wrong, learn from it and move on.
3. Take risks. Leaders have the courage to act in situations where results aren’t assured. They're willing to risk failure.
Learn how to take risks: Analyze the situation, listing pros and cons for each option, then assign each choice a risk factor rating from 1 to 5. Next determine the likelihood that each outcome will occur. This will help you determine how much risk you want to take.
TIP: Don't expect perfection. No one wins all the time. Leaders grow by making mistakes.
4. Motivate others. Leaders can articulate their vision and ideals to others, convincing them of the value of their ideas. They can inspire people to work toward common goals and to achieve things they never thought they could do.
Learn how to motivate people: Explore the different needs that motivate people and recognize that the same rewards don’t motivate everyone. Listen carefully to others to learn what motivates them.
TIP: Motivate employees by making sure they understand how their work contributes to a larger goal.
5. Build teams. Leaders create productive teams that draw the best from people. They effectively coach teams in collaboration, consensus building, and conflict resolution.
Learn how to improve your teambuilding skills : Avoid preconceived answers to every question. Concentrate on appreciating different points of view during discussions rather than just trying to prove your point. This same willingness to include others is the key to successful teambuilding.
6. Possess self-knowledge. Leaders know their own strengths and weaknesses and are able to view their behavior objectively. They recognize their shortcomings, open themselves to feedback, and are willing to make changes when necessary.
Learn how to expand your self-knowledge : Study yourself closely and practice self-assessment techniques to learn how you behave and the effects you have on others. Ask others for their opinions or criticisms and what you can do to become a better leader. Dr. Gerald Bell, business consultant and professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
TIP: Keep a journal of critical incidents; look back and learn what you did well and what you might have done better.
7. Display integrity. Leaders must be trustworthy before others will follow them. Warren Bennis, The Leadership Institute, University of Southern California, says qualities that establish trust are competence, constancy, caring, candor, and congruity, which he defines as authenticity, reliability, and feeling comfortable with oneself.
Learn how to assess your integrity: Actively seek feedback from others friends, co-workers, and even employees to determine if your values and sense of responsibility coincide with those of your peer group.
8. Pursue lifelong learning. Leaders have a desire to continually learn and grow and are open to new ideas.
Learn how to expand your knowledge: Maintain a broad focus. Look beyond your colleagues and your own industry for ideas and inspiration and read books on new management theories and ideas.
TIP: Wise managers look for support staff or partners who complement their weaknesses.
9. Communicate effectively. Leaders can convey their ideas to diverse individuals and adjust their styles to meet the needs of the people they lead.
Learn how to improve communication skills : Practice communications skills such as active listening. Read between the lines during conversations, especially when dealing with subordinates who may be reluctant to say what they think. Restate important points in several ways or ask listeners to reiterate your point to you to ensure that your meaning is clear.
10. Help others succeed. Leaders empower others and go out of their way to help them achieve their full potential, thereby benefiting the organization.
From India, Coimbatore
Thank you for the extreme intelligence, it was great to know all this. I also think that a great book written by Stephen Covey I believe the name was, "The seven habbit of highly effective people," mentions some of this information and once a person reads it they start to belivee and change their state of mind into understanding and applying their thoughts and life differently.
From United States
From United States
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TEAM BUILDING LEADERSHIP SKILLS.ppt
Leadership Skills for Managers.pdf