To recap: Without even realizing it, most leaders do and say things that send employees into their “Critter State” where every decision they make is driven by fear, says Christine Comaford, author of the new book Smart Tribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together (Portfolio/Penguin, June 2013). And the consequences are more dire than you might realize.
So how might leaders be inadvertently holding back their teams and crippling their own cultures? What, exactly, are they doing to send people into their Critter States? More to the point, what are you doing? Comaford describes a few (very subtle) offenders:
- You focus on problems rather than outcomes. “When we’re tense, we’re problem-focused,” explains Comaford. “We see everything as a problem, which causes anxiety, which leads to a reaction, which leads to another problem. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. The solution is to switch your focus from problems to outcomes.”
“Being outcome focused feels very different,” she explains. “It’s empowering and energizing and fills you with confidence.”
- You frame “change” the wrong way. Almost all leaders want—probably need—their companies to change. It’s the only way we can achieve growth. Yet, as we all know, people inherently resist change.
What does this mean? Essentially, it means leaders need to present the “change” as merely an improvement to what we are already doing: The bad stuff is being removed and good stuff is being added.
You know your managers could do a better job if they were trained, and now there’s a convenient and reasonable way to get it done—BLR’s Leadership Library at the online, 24/7, TrainingToday. Get More Information.
“Seriously—this is the best way to package a change message,” asserts Comaford. “And don’t use the C-word. Say ‘growth’ instead.”
Did you recognize your own leaders—even yourself—in the list above? If so, you’re not alone. And the good news is that once you can make the (relatively simple) changes, you are likely to see dramatic improvements in your results.
“All leaders want to outperform, outsell, and out-innovate the competition,” reflects Comaford. “And most of us have teams that are quite capable of doing so. We just need to stop scaring the competence out of them.”
Christine Comaford is a leadership columnist for Forbes.com and is frequently quoted in the business and technology media. To learn more, visit www.christinecomaford.com.
Trying to get your employees trained to show leadership? It isn’t easy to fit it in—schedulewise or budgetwise—but now there’s BLR’s Leadership for Employees Library. Train all your people, at their convenience, 24/7, for one standard fee. Get More Information.
How effective are your leadership training efforts? How effective are your company’s training programs at developing supervisors and managers into effective leaders who can help your company be successful?
There’s no doubt training can be a hassle—authorizing, planning, delivering, tracking—and it’s easy to let this critical priority slip.
To solve this problem, BLR® has created a unique and helpful solution called TrainingToday.
This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software to install, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere, with nothing but a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
Just as important, TrainingToday automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has or hasn’t yet trained on any subject or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
These are all motivational, actionable programs—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, the FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes, and what’s more, we continually add new programs.
The Leadership Library, for example, provides you with a sensible (and economic) solution.
The Leadership Library for Managers and Supervisors allows you to:
- Train on demand. Employees can complete training anytime from anywhere. All they need is a computer and an Internet connection.
- Reinforce training topics with engaging graphics and quizzes to test their knowledge.
- Monitor and track the results of your training program with the built-in recordkeeping tool.
- Save costs. The more you train, the more cost-effective the training becomes.
The Leadership Library for Managers and Supervisors is a Web-based training tool that can be utilized by any organization. All you need is a computer and Internet access—the library is available 24/7.
The Leadership Library for Managers and Supervisors allows you to:
- Train on demand. Employees can complete training anytime from anywhere. All they need is a computer and an Internet connection.
- Reinforce training topics with engaging graphics and quizzes to test their knowledge.
- Monitor and track the results of your training program with the built-in recordkeeping tool.
- Save costs. The more you train, the more cost-effective the training becomes.
The Leadership Library for Managers and Supervisors is a Web-based training tool that can be utilized by any organization. All you need is a computer and Internet access—the library is available 24/7.
The Leadership Library trains your managers on the fundamental skills required for successful team management and organizational communication.
The courses cover a range of leadership and managerial topics, including the following:
- Business Writing Skills for Supervisors
- Dealing with Change: How Supervisors Can Help
- Motivating Employees: Tips and Tactics for Supervisors
- Effective Communication for Supervisors
- Conflict Resolution and Consensus Building
- Workplace Ethics for Supervisors
- Encouraging Employee Input
- Negotiation Skills for Supervisors
- Time Management for Supervisors
- Professional Behavior: What Supervisors Need to Know
- Performance Goals for Supervisors
- New Supervisors’ Guide to Effective Supervision
- Problem Solving for Supervisors
- How to Manage Challenging Employees
- Coaching for Superior Employee Performance: Techniques for Supervisors
- Effective Meetings: How-to for Supervisors
- Leadership Skills: What New Managers and Supervisors Need to Know
This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
TrainingToday automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Get started today on helping your managers and supervisors be the best they can be!