Sharon Rich

Inspired to Succeed – How to Get Out of Your Own Way and Create Change

 Posted by  Leadership, Leading Innovation  No Responses »
Nov 292011
 

businessman in front of his teamWant to get unstuck? Earlier we talked about being able to recognize the signs that you – or people you’re trying to work (or live) with – are resisting a change that needs to happen.

Here are 6 steps you can take to confront resistance and leave it sniveling in your dust.

1. Own it. Recognize and accept that you are in resistance. When we deny resistance or ignore it, resistance owns us. Example: When other things keep bumping the thing you need to do from your list, that’s resistance. When we don’t own it, it’s so easy to believe that those things were urgent and postponing the change unavoidable, day after week after month. When you own that you are in resistance, you are better able to see how your priorities may be interfering with the bigger picture.

2. Know the cost of staying in resistance. What happens if you don’t make the change? What are the predictable outcomes of remaining on your current path?

Yes, financially, but also in terms of:

  • other impacts on your business
  • lost opportunity
  • state of mind
  • physical and emotional energy
  • health and wellbeing
  • impact on others
  • what else?

3. Know WIIFM – (What’s In It For Me) While you do want to know the potential negative impacts above, fear is not ultimately the best motivator for the long haul. What are the predictable positive outcomes for you if you successfully create the change you want to see?

Yes, financially, but also in terms of:

  • sense of accomplishment
  • creation of new opportunity
  • state of mind
  • physical and emotional energy
  • health and well-being
  • impact on others
  • what else?

4. Get specific and Get positive. What is the specific action you need to take? This step trips up a lot of people. For example: increasing revenue, landing a job or losing weight are not actions. These are goals that can help define direction, but we often mistake these for what we need to do. You can’t actually DO any of these things, they are the outcomes of other actions.

Positive actions you might take to create revenue are making a certain number of calls a day to set up meetings with prospective clients. And developing a strategy for converting meetings into business.

Stopping something you do is a negative rather than a positive action. You’ll be more effective if you plan the action you will take instead of the one you want to stop.

5. Tell the story of the change you want to see. In detail. the most basic tool of change and any other thing you want to create is the word. And it’s most powerful form is the story. Start to paint a detailed visual picture using words, for yourself and others. Repeat this, allowing it to develop and guide your actions and decisions. When you start to live the story the change you want to see begins to materialize.

6. Take away the option of not changing. When we say we’re going to do something but we allow something else to distract us and we accept that excuse, we allow the option of not doing what we need to do. Instead, commit to taking action, whether or not other things come up. If not acting isn’t an option, you’ll be amazed at the change you can create.

About the Author:
Sharon Rich works with organizations and people approaching major change. Just look at the spectacular corporate failures of the past decade to see that talent and intelligence aren’t enough to create success. Sharon helps leaders to get the specific tools, skills and perspectives they need to create successful change and make it stick. For more information and to get a compimentary copy of her article “6 WAYS LEADERS SABOTAGE CHANGE and 5 Principles Change Leaders Need Now,” go to http://www.leadershipincorporated.com/Free_Stuff.html
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Inspired to Succeed: 8 Strategies to Engage Your Team for Growth

 Posted by  Leadership  No Responses »
Nov 152011
 

man lifted in air by colleaguesIf you want to grow from point A to point B, you can’t get there alone. You need to get your team onboard.

I’m currently coaching several leaders who are confronting the many challenges of creating engaged buy-in. These challenges take many forms, but ultimately boil down to one or more of the following:

 

  1. Team members can’t see the destination or the benefit of getting there
  2. They want to go somewhere else
  3. They don’t understand your way of getting there
  4. They see their own way to get there
  5. They don’t see their part in getting there

Remember that your team will come from their own perspective. But only 100% of the time.

Your opportunity to manage the change you want to see, is to make your destination and the path to it very clear and show your team WIIFT (What’s In It For Them).

It can be tempting to take the path of least resistance and try to create the change you want to see by yourself, or by engaging only a few key team members. But true leadership involves leveraging the power of your entire organization. That’s where you’ll create your greatest growth.

Here are 8 strategies for getting everyone on-board to create effective business growth:

1. Invest in understanding what’s important to them. Get into conversation and ask questions that will illuminate what they want – and what they don’t want. You need to understand how your goals and objectives align or misalign with your teams’ personal and professional goals and objectives. It’s impossible for people to focus effectively on your needs when theirs aren’t being attended to. The act of taking an interest and striving to create win-win scenarios will take you far in surprising ways.

2. Connect the dots. Don’t expect them to figure out WIIFT themselves. Engage them in the conversation and help them to identify ways your vision for growth is an opportunity for them, as well. Don’t hesitate to ask them to define the benefits and detriments for themselves. Find ways to create alignment or expect to create intentional and unintentional sabotage of your objectives. Remember, not everyone has to share the same benefits to commit to the journey.

3. Make sure that WIIFT is positive. Avoiding negative outcomes is not nearly as powerful as real benefits. To be effective, WIIFT should not sound like “you get to keep your job.”

4. Be specific. Do the work of identifying the contributions you need and from whom you need them. Invite your team to find specific actions they can take to make a difference. They may come up with things that hadn’t yet occurred to you.

5. Ask for their involvement. Ask for their best work. It might seem like it should go without saying, but don’t let it!

6. Share progress. Connect them with the results they are creating.

7. Create a positive pressure to perform. Schedule regular progress meetings. Make these positive, celebratory – and mandatory. Have the team lead the meeting. Let them know everyone needs to speak. Find little ways to celebrate progress as you go.

8. Appreciate often. Notice what people and teams are doing and acknowledge it.

To lead successful growth focus on the greater good, not just WIIFY (What’s In It For You.)

Their buy-in begins with you.

Here’s to your growth!

About the Author:
Sharon Rich works with organizations and people approaching major change. Just look at the spectacular corporate failures of the past decade to see that talent and intelligence aren’t enough to create success. Sharon helps leaders to get the specific tools, skills and perspectives they need to create successful change and make it stick. For more information and to get a complimentary copy of her article “6 WAYS LEADERS SABOTAGE CHANGE and 5 Principles Change Leaders Need Now,” go to http://www.leadershipincorporated.com/Free_Stuff.html

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What Every Good Leader Must Have – A True Yes

 Posted by  Leadership  No Responses »
Nov 012011
 

mature business man with thumb upEver said yes to a request, a project, a role, a job, an opportunity, or other responsibility and then regretted it?

I’ve been hearing a lot from people lately who are in situations where they say yes when they mean no for one of the following reasons:

“I don’t want to disappoint.”

“If I don’t do it, who will?”

“Because I can…and someone else might not.”

“They asked me and I just didn’t feel I could say no.”

“I’ve always said yes in the past.”

“I don’t want anyone to think I’m not doing my part.”

“I should be grateful.”

“If I say no, I could lose my job.”

Sound familiar? We all do this sometimes. Some of us do it A LOT. Sometimes we say yes to things that are outside of our responsibility. Sometimes we say yes to things that are outside of our ability. Sometimes we say yes even when we know we don’t have the time or knowledge to follow through. We get in the habit of saying yes and as you probably know, old habits are hard to break.

This bad habit gets in the way of productivity and effectiveness.

When we say yes, and we mean no, we set ourselves and/or our business up:

  • To disappoint
  • To be incapable
  • To not get the job done
  • To be stressed and overwhelmed
  • To become resentful
  • To drain our energy from other more important projects
  • To prevent those who do have the skills, tools, knowledge, time and desire to do a better job than we might have done

And sometimes, as a result people do lose their jobs. Ironic, isn’t it? By saying yes when we mean no, we set up the very things we are trying to avoid by saying yes. That’s the misguided yes.

Your True Yes, on the other hand, has incredible creative power. The power of a True Yes is that it creates flow. Your True Yes invites in people and unforeseen opportunities. When things are slow and I want them to pick up, I will often start saying yes to everything (that isn’t a clear no) and see where and to whom it leads me. True yes never comes from “have to” or “should.”

True Yes Comes from knowing that you have:

  • The Ability
  • The Time
  • The Responsibility
  • The Desire
  • The Ability to say No.

To have a True Yes, you must be able to give your Generous No. You must be in active choice. (For more on this, see last week’s Inspired to Succeed, below.)

Here’s what to watch out for:

When you have the responsibility without the desire. Got procrastination? Ask yourself how it might become possible to say no, what conditions can you create that will still maintain your integrity to your responsibility? How might you engage others in finding creative solutions? What can you delegate? What can you hire out? Just because you have responsibility for something does not mean you have to do it personally.

When you have the desire but don’t have the responsibility. Are you in danger of overstepping your bounds? Are you taking on responsibilities that belong to others, depriving them of the experience, the satisfaction, the growth, and better solutions than you might have provided?

When you don’t have the time, you always have the power to negotiate. Can you buy time? Can you prioritize differently? First you have to create the habit of knowing that you haven’t got the time!

To get out of that obligatory resentment-laden yes, come clean…as early as possible. Take responsibility for having said Yes when you meant No. Be collaborative. Yes doesn’t have to mean going it alone. We forget that as leader we are still part of the team.

Finally, don’t forget that others lack a Generous No and a True Yes. How many times have you seen all that we’ve just been exploring in others? Watch for the signs and don’t be blindsided by it!

Hope this gets you thinking in new ways about your approach to everything. Next time, we’ll talk about the power of having a policy of openness.

Until then…

About the Author:
Sharon Rich works with business leaders (and aspiring leaders) who are smart, successful and frustrated. What used to work for them and their firms is no longer working. They keep pushing forward but aren’t getting the results they want and need. They feel ineffective and they may be suffering a crisis of confidence as a result. She partners with them to create fresh strategies that produce more effective outcomes. To get a complimentary copy of the Leadership Incorporated Special Report: 11 Things Smart Leaders Do to Waste Their Company’s Money and Lose the Respect of Their People, email sharon.rich@leadershipincorporated.biz.

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Why Your First Act in Any Leadership Role (or Any Role) Should Be Designing Your Exit Strategy

 Posted by  Leadership  No Responses »
Oct 182011
 

a man carrying a business planThis week I found myself in several conversations with clients about exit strategies. As often as I hear from leaders who want to create something they can retire from or hand over to someone who can take it even further, I also hear from people who feel they are reaching the limits of their growth within an organization. I hear from directors who feel they’ve taken their team, department or company as far as they can with their current situation and constraints. I hear from people who feel frustrated and ineffective and stuck.

When I mention exit strategy, often people balk. They feel that planning an exit is somehow disloyal. Quite the opposite! Having a strong exit strategy in place will:

  • facilitate the growth of your organization
  • enhance your personal and professional growth
  • positively impact your leadership
  • help you to meet both your and your organizations’ goals and objectives
  • set you up to leave on good terms and in a way that’s best for everyone
  • make for a far more satisfying career
  • and keep you from getting to a point of complete frustration that is toxic for both you and the business

Not only is it NOT disloyal to have an exit strategy, it’s one of the most loyal actions you can take. First of all, to think that you will never leave your company is to be in denial. We all will leave at some point, even if it’s when they carry us out on a stretcher. ( Not a desirable way to go for you or the company.) Your best executive exit strategy may well be one that plans for you to stay with the company until you retire at 99 after having adequately prepared and transitioned to your perfect successor. An equally valid exit strategy outcome is to accomplish x, y and z for your organization and then hand over the reins and go do the same for another business. It may be to sell the company and retire. Or start another one. Or perhaps, your strategy is built on your intention of a series of promotions that lead to becoming that perfect successor for the current CEO.

Regardless of what your greatest desired outcome is, knowing how you want to leave has a profound influence on your actions during your tenure. As you might imagine, the decisions you make would be very different if you knew you intended to hand over control than if you intended to take on more responsibility.Knowing where you are heading makes you more effective. It’s really that simple. Acting-as-if you’re in it for the long haul, when you aren’t, doesn’t actually benefit the business- or you, either.

So, what does a potent exit strategy look like? It has the following elements:

  1. Where you are going: Your ultimate goal
  2. How you will get there: A clearly defined step-by-step path made up of objectives which lead logically to your ultimate goal
  3. What you need: The traditional (and non-traditional) requirements to reach each step. (Who says you have to take the usual path??!)
  4. Your ETA: Your ideal time frame…as well as explorations of ways and reasons to speed it up, or slow it down
  5. Who you will be along the way: What are your values? What standards will you hold yourself to? what kind of leader will you be?
  6. How you will exit at each step: Be specific (you can revise as needed) and always strive to make it a win-win
  7. What you will accomplish: When you set these intentions ahead of time, you are much more likely to meet them!
  8. What’s so great about that: Know what’s in it for both you and the organization

If you don’t already have one, I invite you to sketch out an exit strategy today. And see how it immediately impacts the choices you make and the actions you take. I’d love to hear your thoughts and insights. Wishing you an inspired week.

About the Author:
Sharon Rich works with organizations and people approaching major change. Just look at the spectacular corporate failures of the past decade to see that talent and intelligence aren’t enough to create success. Sharon helps leaders to get the specific tools, skills and perspectives they need to create successful change and make it stick. For more information and to get a compimentary copy of her article “6 WAYS LEADERS SABOTAGE CHANGE and 5 Principles Change Leaders Need Now,” go to http://www.leadershipincorporated.com/Free_Stuff.html

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Making the Leap: 7 Steps to Create Rapid Nonlinear Growth

 Posted by  Disruptive Innovation  No Responses »
Jul 042011
 

a business man drawing a graphHad enough recession? Ready to leap into growth mode? You don’t have to wait for the economy to bestow growth upon you. You can proactively bring it on.

As I’ve worked with people and organizations going through major change for over 5 years, I’ve noticed that people are seeing the greatest results in the area of non-linear rapid growth. Continue reading »

5 Ways to Survive Growth Mode!

 Posted by  Leading Innovation  No Responses »
Jun 062011
 

Open doorHaving a full plate is a wonderful thing. Especially these days when so many businesses are struggling. I’m having the great good fortune to work with organizations in rapid growth mode – and to head an organization in rapid growth mode!

Growth has its challenges. For example, the sense that you’ve been cloned and are in seven distinct places right this very minute. The gift of growth is that it gives you the opportunity (and incentive) to re-prioritize and simplify. Continue reading »

Why Your First Act in Any Leadership Role (or Any Role) Should Be Designing Your Exit Strategy

 Posted by  Leading Innovation  No Responses »
May 272011
 

Stairways spiraling downThis week I found myself in several conversations with clients about exit strategies. As often as I hear from leaders who want to create something they can retire from or hand over to someone who can take it even further, I also hear from people who feel they are reaching the limits of their growth within an organization. I hear from directors who feel they’ve taken their team, department or company as far as they can with their current situation and constraints. I hear from people who feel frustrated and ineffective and stuck. When I mention exit strategy, often people balk. They feel that planning an exit is somehow disloyal. Quite the opposite! Continue reading »

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