Archive for October, 2010
Lead Like a Mom October 29 2010 5 responses
With the beginning of a new group coaching cohort, I’ve been spending some time this week in one on one calls with high potential leaders to review their 360 degree feedback data. One of the calls was with a leader who I’ll call Nancy. She’s a long term high performer with her company and the mother of two high school students.
It was easy to see from Nancy’s 360 report how well thought of she is by her colleagues and our conversation made it clear why she is. She’s smart, confident, humble and has equal measures of focus on results and relationships. Using our online reporting system, we started reviewing her data by looking at the items that were rated highest by her colleagues. To get things started, I asked her to look at her highest rated items as if she was looking at someone else’s report and give me a headline that summed up what she saw in the data. With just a few moments of thought, she laughed softly and said, “It looks like a mom.”
The 360 I use is comprised of 72 leadership behaviors based on the research behind my book, The Next Level. I’ve had hundreds of client conversations about the survey and have never before heard someone say that their results look like a mom. When I looked at Nancy’s results with the mom lens on, though, I immediately agreed.
Nancy’s highest rated behaviors ranged between a 4.44 and a 4.69 on a 5.00 point scale. Yes, she’s good. With her permission, let me share those high rated items with you. Put your mom glasses on and see if you agree with Nancy:
Why and How Leaders Need to Say Thank You October 27 2010 7 responses
With a shout out to the folks at the Compensation Café blog, I just read an interesting post on research that demonstrates the positive results that come from saying thank you. So, as you read that last sentence you may have thought, “They needed a study to demonstrate that? I learned that as a kid.”
Yeah, me too. Specifically from my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kreiger with some reinforcement from Miss Marilyn on the Romper Room TV show (along with her classic advice to “Do be a doo bee and don’t be a don’t bee.”)
Saying thank you is just the polite thing to do, right? Have you noticed, though, that polite behavior doesn’t seem as prevalent as it used to be? In the ongoing battle for our attention between getting results and building relationships, the focus on results seems to be in the lead. For leaders that are all about the results, taking the time to say thank you often gets pushed down the list of things to do. After all, you’re busy. They know you’re busy and probably know you appreciate their help. If you don’t have time to say thanks, it’s not that big a deal, right?
The research suggests otherwise. Here’s a quick summary from the PsyBlog on the study that was published by Adam Grant and Francesca Gino in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
In the first study, 69 participants were asked to provide feedback to a fictitious student called ‘Eric’ on his cover letter for a job application. After sending their feedback through by email, they got a reply from Eric asking for more help with another cover letter.
The twist is that half of them got a thankful reply from Eric and the other half a neutral reply. The experimenters wanted to see what effect this would have on participant’s motivation to give Eric any more help.
As you might expect, those who were thanked by Eric were more willing to provide further assistance. Indeed the effect of ‘thank you’ was quite substantial: while only 32% of participants receiving the neutral email helped with the second letter, when Eric expressed his gratitude, this went up to 66%.
Saying thank you led to a 100% increase in willingness to help again in the future. If you’re a leader who’s all about the results that should get your attention. Turns out that saying thank you is a pretty important skill to have if you want to get things done. Here are some tips on how to do it:
A Key Question for Executive Leaders October 26 2010 one response
Thanks go out to my friend Dan McCarthy of the Great Leadership blog for featuring my post, “What Is It That Only You Can Do?” In ten years of executive coaching, I’ve found that’s a really important question for leaders to consider. There are some caveats in answering the question, however. For starters, it’s not about being indispensable. For more on this Coachable Moment from the new edition of The Next Level, head on over to Dan’s blog.
While you’re there, leave a comment and you’ll be in the running to receive a free copy of The Next Level.
Leadership Lessons from a Three Ring Circus October 25 2010 2 responses
With everything that leaders have to juggle, it's easy to feel like the ringmaster of a three ring circus. For Kenneth Feld, CEO of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, it must be hard to resist that feeling. In it's almost always interesting Corner Office series, the New York Times ran an interview with Feld on what he's learned from leading the Greatest Show on Earth.
The interview itself is worth five minutes of your time. In the meantime, here are some of the leadership lessons Feld has learned that stuck with me:
How To Tick Off Your Peers October 22 2010 no responses
Want to give a big shout out to fellow blogger Mary Jo Asmus who's featuring my post, "Why Your Peers Can't Stand Working With You," on her Aspire-CS blog. Here are three reasons why you should head on over to Mary Jo's blog and check out the post and what else is there:
- Mary Jo is a terrific writer, thinker and coach with a wonderful humanistic approach to leadership issues.
- The post on peers cites exclusive research on what annoys peers about their high potential leader colleagues. Could be valuable information to you or someone you know!
- If you leave a thoughtful comment, you'll be in the running to win a copy of the new second edition of my book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, 2nd Edition
Five Changes Go To People HAVE To Make October 20 2010 no responses
My guest blogger tour continues today with a post on the thoughtLeaders blog. If you’re looking for practical, straight talk on leadership, the blog written by Mike Figliuolo is for you. In conjunction with the launch of the second edition of The Next Level
Please take a moment to check it out and, while you’re there, subscribe to Mike’s blog.
Avoiding Common Mistakes That Leaders Make October 19 2010 no responses
If you're looking for new content from me today, head on over to www.michaelhyatt.com where I'm guest posting today on Three Common Mistakes That Leaders Make (and How to Avoid Them).
Michael is the CEO and President of Thomas Nelson Publishing and has a fantastic following as one of the best leadership bloggers around. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to reach his readers directly. Thanks Michael!
If you'll head over to his blog and leave a comment on my post, you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of 100 copies of the new second edition of my book, The Next Level
Video Book Club: The Next Level, 2nd Edition October 19 2010 no responses
This week’s installment of the Video Book Club can’t hit any closer to home for me. Today, October 19, is the official publication date of the second edition of my book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success.
With thanks for indulging me for three minutes, in this video clip I want to share with you (and show you) some of the new features in the second edition. It builds on everything that my clients and readers have told me they like about the first edition and, among other things, adds some fresh executive insights, field tested coaching tips and highlights of the specific behaviors that rising leaders need to master.
I think you’ll like the new edition of The Next Level and hope you’ll check it out. It’s available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and wherever books are sold.
Here’s more info on what’s new in the second edition:
Coachable Moment: The 20/80 Analysis October 18 2010 one response
One of the new features in the second edition of The Next Level
One of my favorite Coachable Moments from the chapter on picking up defining what to do and letting go of telling how to do it is one I call the 20/80 Analysis. Here’s how it works:
Catch the Next Level Call October 18 2010 no responses
Last week, I hosted a live leadership tele-seminar with several hundred participants. It was a fast paced 30 minutes and a lot of fun for me to share what I’ve learned about leading at the next level, getting into some road-tested Coachable Moments and some of the vital behaviors that leaders need to pick up and let go of to elevate their leadership effectiveness.
If you weren’t able to join us on the call or even if you were and just want to listen again or share it with others, you can access a recording at www.eblingroup.com/teleseminar.html. The audio recording is embedded into the page or you can download the MP3.
We got some great feedback on the call from folks like Sally who wrote:
“Thanks for the teleseminar. As always, you present solid research and experience in a way that leaders can hear and apply. Looking forward to checking out the revised version of your book. This has been my #1 recommendation to clients who are in transition.”
And Jeff who said:
“I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge a well done session today. Your comments were clear, on the mark and added insight.. Thank you!”
So, I hope you’ll find the recording to be a valuable resource for you and other leaders in your organization.
Everything we talked about on the call and a lot more can be found in the new, expanded 2nd edition of my book The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, 2nd Edition
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
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