August 9, 2017 8 Lessons the MN State Fair teaches us about LEADERSHIP
At the end of the month, the event known as the “Great Minnesota Get-Together” will begin. The MN State Fair has been in existence since 1859, a year after Minnesota became a state. It’s one of the largest state fairs in the nation and in recent history it hosts almost 2 million people each year!
With such a long tradition—and with so many attendees—it makes sense that the fair has their system down to a science. In fact, it’s so well run that we all could learn a few leadership lessons from the fair. Here are my top 8:
1. Lighten up
The daily demands of leadership sometimes make it difficult for us to take a step back and have fun. We become so immersed in problem-solving, fielding issues, and navigating tough conversations that we sometimes forget the lighter side of things. Similarly, if you’re walking around the immense fairgrounds you’ll wear out quickly If you’re not having fun!
2. Understand your team
The state fair knows exactly what exhibits, rides, and food stands should be where. The cows belong in the livestock barn. The paintings and sculptures belong in the galleries. The food stands line the roads and rotundas. Your work team is similar. Everyone has their special areas of expertise, and it’s useful to capitalize on them (for more on balancing your work team see my recent blog post on this topic).
3. Be a logistics whiz
All those cars! All those people! Somehow the fair manages to shuffle everyone around smoothly and effectively. In your leadership, it’s helpful to think about logistics. Do you have smart systems in place? Would a new approach help your team work more efficiently or complete their tasks on time? When working with logistics, it’s a good idea to get as much input as possible from your team and gather feedback about what works and what does not.
4. Balance tried and true practices with creativity
Everyone loves cheese curds and cotton candy, but why not try teriyaki ostrich on a stick? Or a Cracker Jack caramel sundae? While it’s good to have tried and true methods, products, and processes, sometimes the system benefits from a little inventiveness. This forward-thinking mentality is what keeps companies like Apple and Google in the public eye (and keeps us doling out dollars for their latest gadget!)
5. Encourage free thinking, but provide guidance
I’m am an advocate of placing trust in your team. Give them the freedom to approach a problem in their own way and create their own path. At the state fair, you’re given road maps and schedules, but you’re free to choose your own route and find the best solution for you. In the same way, it’s a good idea to provide others with guidance, but to give them the freedom to work out their own solutions. Their ingenuity may surprise you!
6. Don’t do everything yourself
Although there is a “board of managers” that runs the state fair, they receive plenty of help with operations. It would be impossible for a board of 10 individuals to oversee every building, clean every bathroom, or set up every ride. This is where smart delegation comes into play. Develop a deep understanding of your team member’s strengths and utilize those strengths as best you can.
7. Reward/recognize good performance
Top performance deserves recognition! Just like an outstanding horseback rider or a talented sculptor deserves to be awarded a prize, so too do your top performers merit recognition. Be sure to commend team members for a range of performance-related achievements, from exceeding sales goals to practicing inclusivity.
8. Weather the ups and downs
We’re all familiar with the twists and turns of roller coasters. They take us for a wild ride until things level out and the ride is over. In the same way, excellent leaders practice resiliency. They take setbacks in stride, strategize, and plan for the future without dwelling on (or moaning about!) their obstacles. Great leaders know there will be bumps in the road and they face these challenges head-on, instead of ignoring them.
There is much we can learn from the state fair. When it comes to leadership lessons, the land of corndogs and Tilt-a-Whirls is filled to the brim with them. How else could it host hundreds of thousands of people each day and keep them (for the most part!) happy and entertained?
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it or leave a message in the comments!
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: leadership and the state fair, leadership lessons, learn from the state fair, lessons from the state fair, margaret smith leadership, mn state fair lessons, st. paul state fair, the mn state fair and leadership
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August 2, 2017 Don’t manage TIME, manage ENERGY!
Time management is not solving anything.
Why? Because we can set aside time to work on specific projects, but if our hearts are not in it, we’ll end up drifting off or doing something completely unrelated (checking Facebook, browsing through new recipes, catching up on the latest news…).
Instead of managing blocks of time, it’s better to manage energy.
It’s more advantageous to work in short, productive bursts than in long blocks of time in which your attention wanders. When you set aside everything else (including your smart phone!) and focus on a single task, you’ll find that you’ll work better and faster than you would if you simply reserved a block of time and let your attention be captured by new emails, other projects, and social media.
The reason it’s better to work in shorter allotments of time is because human beings are not meant to slog through an entire work day without breaks. As Tony Swartz, founder of the Energy Project, says, “human beings are meant to pulse.” We work in cycles. Our concerted attention can only last for so long (typically 90 minutes, according to Schwartz).
There reaches a certain point where no amount of schedule-shuffling will enable us to stay on top of things. We may do our best to manage time, but if our energy isn’t also managed we can suffer from burnouts, stress, and unhappiness (which can bleed into our personal lives).
The lesson is: Don’t focus on your time management–just assume you’ll be busy. Instead, take care of your energy levels throughout the day.
Schwartz outlines some tips for tending to your energy levels during the day in a book he co-wrote with Catherine McCarthy called Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.
The authors point out that your time is finite, but your energy levels can be replenished if you attend to them closely. They offer a few ways for you to do this throughout the day:
- Take a break every 90-120 minutes. Physically get up from your desk and enjoy a brief change of scenery.
- Eat light meals and snacks throughout the day, every couple hours.
- Dedicate time every day to focus on what you’re best at and what gives you a sense of fulfillment.
They also suggest that leaders pay attention to their employee’s energy needs:
“To effectively reengergize their workforces, organizations need to shift their emphasis from getting more out of people to investing more in them…”
- Keep a room devoted to taking breaks and relaxing
- Subsidize gym memberships
- Encourage staff to move around every so often
And I’ll add a suggestion of my own for leaders:
- Energy is directly related to feedback. Positive feedback energizes folks and helps them keep the momentum going. Negative feedback, if delivered well, can also motivate people to make improvements. The point is, I find that giving specific, frequent feedback is one of the best ways to help people manage their own energy levels
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career blog, career coach blog, energize at work, Energy Management, energy management vs time management, margaret smith career coach, rejuvenate at work, The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz
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July 26, 2017 Learning Agility (and using FEAR as a catalyst)
When learning something new, we instinctively keep it close and secret until we feel confident that we’ve got it down pat. Usually this is because we feel embarrassed by our clumsiness with new skills. However, we can’t learn until we apply our skills, which means a bit of screwing up. You’ll find that even though screwing up might be hard on your ego, it’ll increase the rate at which you learn and respond in unique situations.
This is because of a special nerve in our bodies, called the vagus nerve. As Christopher Bergland explains in this article on Psychology Today, “When people say ‘trust your gut’ they are in many ways saying, ‘trust your vagus nerve.’ Visceral feelings and gut-instincts are literally emotional intuitions transferred up to your brain via the vagus nerve.”
Bergland goes on to say that we can teach ourselves to respond positively to the “gut-feeling” we get from the vagus nerve by being in tune with the loop between our bodies and minds and using this awareness to our advantage. Instead of choking under pressure, which comes from a negative response from the vagus nerve, we can control its signals and stay calm under stress.
Now, I’m not saying that you should go out and look for the most stressful situation you can find and purposely make your learning experience as intense as possible. Many people thrive under pressure, while others do much better using more gradual methods, and I understand that. I do want to encourage you to push the limits you think you have when you’re taking on something new, because:
- Most of us underestimate ourselves.
- Most of us overestimate the thing we’re learning.
- You won’t really know how true either of the above are until you go out and see for yourself.
Examples of diving in:
-Giving a presentation using material you’re new to. Of course, don’t do this at your next big, job-on-the-line presentation, but do try out new materials, approaches and styles when you have a less career-defining presentation.
-Teaching yourself a skill that is outside your normal set of skills. If you’re a numbers wiz, try out some of the good literature. If you’re an extrovert, try meditation. If you’re shy, try the above suggestion!
-Wearing your mistakes as badges, knowing that each falter invariably pushes you closer to mastery.
How do you deal with handling pressure? How does it impact your ability to learn?
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career blog, Career Coach Advice, face your fears at work, Learning Agility, margaret smith career coach, use fear as a catalyst, UXL business coaching, workplace anxiety
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