• February's session will be delivered in an on-line Zoom format as well, with our first session on 2/11/21 and our next on 2/25/21
• Crestcom's free webinar of the month will once again fall directly during one of our sessions.  But if you register, you can receive a recording of the session.

Where is the Love? Why Leaders Shouldn’t be Afraid of the “L” Word.

Creating a culture where employees feel respected and cared for leads to better business outcomes. But business leaders are often afraid to use the "L" word at work.  Leading with love is not about rainbows and butterflies but about creating a supportive and collaborative environment for greater success. Join us for a "fireside chat" with Steve Farber to learn why leading from the heart creates better outcomes and how to show love in the workplace.

www.crestcom.com/leadership-trainer/dave-heisey/#webinars

Thursday, February 25th, 2021 at 10:00AM ET

This month's session included our module on Be The Coach They Need with Steve Farber.

Coaching requires a different language approach than most leaders & managers employ in their day-to-day discussions.  We talked about the importance of open-ended questions to gain the participation of the coachee.  Just think about your own situation - do you like to be told what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to happen?  Sometimes in a business context that's appropriate - when handing out work assignments for example.  But you should be looking to create opportunities to coach employees to improve their performance, move them into the growth zone, provide them with additional challenges, etc...

Steve gave us a coaching conversation template, which consists of five steps:

1).  Set Expectations - what is this coaching session about - why is coaching necessary at this time.  Best to be specific so you let your employee know what you're striving for.
2).  Inquire & Identify the Coaching Target - as the boss, you might already know what needs to be done, how to do it, etc...  But the employee may not, and admitting that to their boss is HARD.  So understand they may be struggling with a task that is very easy for you.
3).  Brainstorm solutions - these are their solutions, not yours.  Don't take ownership of their challenges and opportunities - help them set their own path forward to resolving THEIR work.
4).  Mirror - Restate what you heard - what's the challenge and what are they going to do about it.  This is a good time for probing questions (closed-ended).
5). Confirm - Let them know that you agree with their strategy and create a time to revisit the topic.

Steve also suggested a GTY project - greater than yourself.  Find someone who you think is a worthy candidate, to invest your time and coaching in.  Try and provide them with the tools they need to be successful - and perhaps more successful than you have been!


Our second module was Deliver Results the First Time with Andy Bounds.

Andy has an interesting perspective on communication - with the focus on outcomes versus tasks.  In his words - "the afters".  Afters are based in the future, so the process starts with a future based question:

1).  Future based question - what are you looking to achieve?  How will you or the customer use this?  
2).  2nd Questions - tell me more...  What kind of timeframe?  What level of quality?
3).  Anything Else?
4).  Priorities.  Of all the things we discussed, what is your number 1 priority?  (This should be included in the summary statement or the principal objective of your work).
5).  Summarize & Restate.  One of the keys of effective communication - here's what I heard, do I have that right?

We use processes and procedures to automate delegation to a large degree.  If your organization is highly regimented, when you assign common tasks, there can be forms, policies, and standards that help employees execute the task consistently and effectively.  This is a great process to use when you're assigning work that isn't part of an existing process, or where you want an existing process modified for brevity, or to execute or emphasize a component that isn't emphasized as part of your existing processes.


One review to conduct with policies and procedures is to make sure that the "afters" are identified as part of the process.  Providing the afters in your process help your employees connect their activities to the broader organizational objectives - which gives them the "why" they need to be highly motivated and engaged.

This Month's Summaries: 

Next Month's Sessions

VIRTUAL SESSIONS - 

Take Charge of Talent Management - Kathleen Quinn Votaw
Thursday, February 11th, 9 - 11 am

Bridging the Multigenerational Gap in the Workplace - Amy Lynch
Thursday, February 25th, 9 - 11 am 

Looking forward to seeing you during February!