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“Creating Successful Leaders”

Tag Archives: St. Catherine University

April 26, 2017 Old leader, new tricks

build a boss program

Last week, I talked about a program that career coach, Karen Kodzik, and I created called Build A Boss. We noticed a gap in how managers are trained—many are only trained on bare bones office mechanics and not how to effectively lead people—so we sought to fill that gap. In last week’s post, I discussed new leaders and how Build A Boss can help them achieve success in four key areas. This week, I’m going to focus on established leaders and how they can get back on their feet after a significant change.

I’ve worked with many people who have years of leadership experience in a certain area. Then, a change happens. Maybe they move to a new company, shift positions within their current place of employment, or are faced with a drastic restructuring of their company’s way of operating.

Whatever the case, this kind of change can be jarring for a manager who has only practiced a certain brand of leadership. Fortunately, there are coaching companies like UXL that can help established leaders bounce back and reimagine and reinvigorate their leadership.

Although it is helpful to enlist the help of a coach, there are certain things you can do on your own to help you through a difficult leadership transition. Try these six “quick tips.”

Quick Tip 1:

Set aside “you time.” Take the time to reflect upon your personal attributes and strategize on how to build your strengths.

Quick Tip 2:

Don’t get caught up in your perceived weaknesses. You can’t be good at everything! Practice smart delegation and enlist the help of your team.

Quick Tip 3:

Schedule more one-on-one meetings. Getting to know and understand each team member is crucial for building trust, understanding their areas of strength, and understanding team dynamics.

Quick Tip 4:

Take an effective, science-based self-assessment AND have your team take it as well. One of my favorites is Insights Discovery.

Quick Tip 5:

Open up your communication. Create ample opportunity for your team to give (and receive!) feedback. During meetings, make sure to be inclusive and encourage everyone to share their thoughts and ideas.

Quick Tip 6:

Be goal-oriented. Set small monthly and quarterly goals, as well as one or five-year goals. Remind yourself of your goals often. Be sure to set both personal and team goals.

 

Established leaders can learn new tricks. Open yourself to new ways of practicing leadership and remember, there’s no need to go it alone! Enlist the help of a coach and seek support from your team members and fellow managers. Leadership is an ever-changing thing and it’s always a good idea to refresh your ideas about what it means to be an effective, capable leader.

 

Contact me for more information about one-on-one leadership coaching.

Know an emerging leader? Or someone in a new supervisory role?
Our next Build A Boss workshop series is at St. Kate’s University on May 11, 18, and 25.

build a boss leadership program

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

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November 18, 2011 Congrats to My St. Catherine University Sales Students

I am so proud of my sales students for their stellar performance at this year’s “Can’t Beat the Experience” national team sales competition at Indiana University:
From the Center for Sales Innovation: National Sales Competition Offered Real-Life Lessons

Four Healthcare Sales seniors competed as a team at a recent national team sales competition at Indiana University. Left to right are Ali Marson, Haley Kelliher, Amanda Braun, Kelsey Kromminga, who say that the competition’s case was similar to cases presented in St. Kate’s business classes.

A team of Healthcare Sales seniors placed in the top 10 out of 21 participating universities in the recent “Can’t Beat the Experience” National Team Sales Competition. Hosted by Indiana University, the event showcased presentations made in support of a private-label, organic popcorn sold into a fictional store. The students were judged based on their product packaging, sampling and social media solutions.”We had a morning appointment with one of the buyers/managers of this fictitious store to ask questions and dig for problems so that we could present solutions,” according to Kelsey Kromminga. “This allowed us to apply our classroom learning — role-playing around questioning, asking open-ended questions and building rapport — and ideas from the bookBeyond Selling Value.”

Alison Marson said that learning to take critical feedback is an important take-away from this competition. She said, “The judging processes helped us to understand the meaning of ‘no’ from a customer. Sometimes you need to dig deeper and ask more questions to gain information to solve the customer’s problem. That’s where our classroom skills in overcoming objections came into play as we centered around a solution fit for the customer.”

“Prepare, prepare, prepare,” said Haley Kelliher, who thinks that everyone should have the opportunity to compete like this during their college experience. “It provides the best learning and real-life experience.”

All students expressed that they had overthought some of their ideas and, looking back, wished they had stuck with their intuition because some of the original ideas offered better benefits. They also learned the importance of time management and working as a team.

Thanks for all of your hard work, SCU Sales students!

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