Tag Archives: margaret smith career coach
September 4, 2019 The Case for Hanging Out with “Top Dogs” (and fumigating the fleas!)
A couple months ago, I had the privilege of seeing Tracey Jones speak at the Women’s Business Bridge annual conference in Stillwater, MN. Tracey is an author, speaker, Air Force Academy graduate, decorated Veteran, international leadership expert, scholar, and researcher. She is also the President of Tremendous Leadership. After her engaging presentation, I picked up a copy of her book, Saucy Aussie Living: Top 10 Tricks for Getting a Second Leash on Life. Told from her dog’s perspective, the book is tongue-in-cheek and goofy, BUT there are many valuable lessons embedded in its pages. One such lesson: Hang out with other top dogs and fumigate the “fleas” in your life.
This lesson boils down to the simple truth that when we associate with high-achieving, ambitious, and positive people, those behaviors and attributes WILL rub off on us. The opposite is true too. If we spend all our time with lazy, incompetent, or negative people, we will inevitably start to take on those characteristics.
The lesson of hanging out with other “top dogs” is a great reminder to pause, look around, and notice both the positive and negative influences in your life. Do some people give you energy and motivate you to be the best version of yourself? Great! Spend as much time around those people as possible.
Do others bring you down with constant complaining, excuses, or negativity? Make an effort to step away from those people and remove their influence from your life. Easier said than done, right? How do you “fumigate the fleabags” around you? It may be extremely difficult to step away from negative co-workers, bosses, or family members. What can you possibly do?
1. Create Healthy Boundaries
Do your best to limit interactions with negative individuals by creating healthy boundaries. This may involve only checking and responding to emails from that person once per day or limiting the number of meetings with that person (or choosing to meet online or over the phone).
Creating healthy boundaries also means standing up for yourself. If you feel like someone is taking over your space, speak out. Let the individual know that you need more breathing room and autonomy.
2. Communicate
If you are less than thrilled with someone’s attitude or lackluster performance, talk to them about it. Don’t be confrontational! Instead, approach the issue from an angle of offering to help. You might say something like: “I noticed you’ve missed a few deadlines lately. Is something wrong? How can I help?”
Communication also helps put negative attitudes in check. If, for instance, someone complains about a co-worker, flip it around by saying, “I don’t see her in that light. Besides, I’d rather focus on XYZ project than talk about Amy right now. Let’s go over last month’s numbers…”
3. Find Your Top Dogs
Once you’ve identified the high-achievers around you, start making an effort to associate with those people as often as possible. When you do this, the “fleabags” will naturally be pushed to the side. Additionally, the positive, go-get-em attitude you’ll adapt from your positive influencers will likely carry over into your interactions with less-driven individuals. Your energy and zest may have a contagious effect. Instead of spreading fleas, you’ll be spreading sunshine!
Regardless of your approach, it is crucial to align yourself with like-minded, motivated individuals. Lean on and learn from them, and don’t forget to give your support in return.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS® DISCOVERY (AND DEEPER DISCOVERY) LICENSED PRACTITIONER, AND FOUNDER OF UXL. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE.
NOW LIVE: CHECK OUT MARGARET’S NEW ONLINE LEADERSHIP COURSE.
Tags: Dealing with a Negative Person, ditch negative influencers, find positive influencers, influenced by people around you, margaret smith career coach, Margaret Smith life coach, top dogs not fleabags
June 5, 2019 The Importance Of Transformational Leadership In An Organization
A guest post by Karoline Gore
With the right strategies and motivation among employees, the potential of an organization is limitless. Transformational leaders strive toward improving the productivity of the company by inspiring their staff through effective communication and creating an environment for intellectual stimulation. By doing so, they influence their followers to exhibit outstanding performance geared toward the wellness of the company and not selfish gains. These leaders also transform workers into potential leaders through continuous motivation and development. Steve Jobs is an iconic transformational leader whose passion and simplicity made Apple what it is today. He constantly challenged his employees to think beyond the obvious, prompting them to create some of the best products that the world has ever seen, according to Marketing91.
It makes work meaningful and empowers workers
Among the different forms of leadership, transformational management is among the best when it comes to employee involvement. There is evidence of a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee-related results, as found by meta-analytic research. These findings prove that transformational leaders make work meaningful by advocating for self-governance. Their followers continuously feel a sense of belonging and appreciation for their work.
Contrary to initial research that found cynicism and Intentions To Quit (ITQ) as general traits of employees, recent studies have found them to be a reflection of workers’ perception of management. Transformational leaders make employees want to stay by eliminating barriers and letting them know that they are mindful of their personal success. Take the example of N.R Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys. By inspiring people through his excellent leadership and personal values, he has attained worldwide recognition and immense success.
A company can handle change and challenges
Change is inevitable, and the biggest challenge that management faces is how to handle it. When governed poorly, it can wound a company’s performance and output, hurting its position on the competitive map. The impact of transformational leadership regarding change reaches all levels of the company. Such leaders educate followers on the importance of change and let them adopt the same through inspiration rather than control. They also handle unethical conduct in a stern yet down-to-earth way that upholds justice. At a team level, you will find employees that motivate and inspire each other to work better. This particularly helps a company to meet these challenges that are brought by strategic redirections.
Transformational leadership is universal and widely accepted as one of the best types of leadership and is applicable in all kinds of organizations. It involves driving for exceptional performance through intellectual stimulation, team-building, and inspiring selfless behavior among workers. As a result, employees support all company’s undertakings without remorse or hesitation. If you are practicing leadership or aspiring to be a leader in the future, many experts advise that you adopt this form of administration for optimal productivity.
Tags: importance of leadership, leadership in the workplace, margaret smith career coach, margaret smith leadership, transformational leadership, transformational leadership workplace
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May 29, 2019 Achieve Greater Clarity in Communication
Communication is the lifeblood of all organizations. So much so, there are whole industries built around identifying the divides between people and bridging them to create effective teams. If your co-workers do not understand the goal or details you are trying to convey, it is likely there will be confusion strewn throughout the entire process of your project. Clear communication is not all about group dynamics and personalities. There is a rhyme and reason to the process that can be reflected and improved upon on an individual basis too. If you’re interested in improving your own communicative process, consider the tips below:
1. Pay Attention To Language Preferences
Everybody has language preferences. If you spend enough time in an organization, you’ll likely develop a sense of the different backgrounds people come from, and the type of language that engages them the most easily. Pay attention in meetings and in written correspondence to the way ideas are phrased and the presented. Then, apply your findings to your messaging.
2. Body Language and Volume
Humans are emotional creatures, and we are wired to pick up signals not just from speech, but from the way in which our speech is presented. For example, folded arms can undermine your position when trying to encourage participation and collaboration. Getting loud or using animated facial expressions can be read as excited as easily as intimidating. If people shy away or don’t physically present in a way to you that seems engaged, consider how you might adjust your body language to appear more approachable.
3. Expand Vocabulary
Sometimes clear communication is as simple as developing a greater precision in language. Crack open a thesaurus and study the contextual differences and appropriate use of terms you frequently encounter or use in your organization. There’s nuance in English between similar concepts, so any additional ability to distinguish your meaning can be valuable.
4. Ask Questions
If you are confused by someone’s meaning, do not be afraid to simply ask for clarification. Sometimes it can be intimidating to question a superior or pester a group message with a stream of individual questions. However, your confusion may be shared by the group at large, so being proactive and asking for more information can be beneficial for all. If the questions don’t clarify to your satisfaction, consider asking other colleagues or involving a mediator to get everyone on the same page.
There are a lot of factors that make up clear and effective communication. By using concise language and being more aware of others’ manners and modes, you can implement the changes that will lead to more effective team dynamics. Where there is rapport and understanding, there is success!
Margaret Smith is a career coach, author, Insights® Discovery (and Deeper Discovery) Licensed Practitioner, and founder of UXL. She hosts WORKSHOPS for people who need career or personal guidance.
NOW LIVE: Check out Margaret’s NEW online Leadership Course.
Tags: clarity in communication, communicate with co-workers, communication at work, Effective Communication, margaret smith career coach, Margaret Smith coaching
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