ARE YOUR PEOPLE BECOMING MORE OR LESS AS A RESULT OF YOUR LEADERSHIP?

This quote by John Quincy Adams is a powerful one. It raises the question for us leaders; are our people becoming more or less as a result of our leadership?

Dream More: Are we helping our people to dream more? Dreaming about what they could become. Dreaming about how bright their future could be. It's the leader's job to have a vision for the organisation, but to also help their people develop a vision for themselves.

Learn More: Are we helping them to develop skills, knowledge, competencies so they add value to our organisations? If people believe they are growing, it's more likely they will be engaged. It's the leader's job to provide opportunities for growth.

Do More: What is happening in your organisation that will lead to productivity and efficiency? It's the leader's job to put things in place so that people can achieve more. Individuals can do more, but the collective effort means that the organisation is better off.
Become More: As a result of your leadership, have people become more? Leadership is about making a difference. It's about growing people. Are your people better than when you found them?

True leadership is about focusing on helping people to become more. Are you doing enough to help your people become more?

DO THIS ONE THING TO MASSIVELY IMPROVE COMMUNICATION - CLOSE THE LOOP

Click here if you'd like to see the video version of this blog.

Years ago a client taught me a really valuable trick to massively improve communication. Close the loop.

We were working together on a big project. This required frequent and detailed communication, mostly by email. I would often get an email reply from him with just one word in it. A three letter word. But it was a powerful message.

The word was Ack. It means 'acknowledged'. In other words, "I have received your email, read it and understood it". 

Without my client's Ack, I might have assumed that he received it, and he didn't. I might have assumed he received it and read it but didn't. I might have assumed he received it, read it, understood it but didn't. His simple reply confirmed that I had achieved my communication goal.

We are often guilty, particularly with email, of thinking that we have effectively communicated by hitting SEND. The communication hasn't occurred until someone closes the loop.

Here is a challenge for you. Have a discussion with your team. Agree to stop assuming that you have communicated and start closing the loop. Agree to send the equivalent of "Ack" when you get an email to show that you have received, read and understood.

A QUICK EXERCISE TO HELP MAKE 2016 YOUR BEST EVER

Many of us are thinking about planning for the coming year. Click on the video above for a short (1 minute) video that might just help 2016 be your best ever.

HERE'S HOW TO MAKE 2016 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

I hope you've had a great year and are looking forward to a well earned break. But before you sign off, let me ask you an important question.

What decisions have you made about 2016 that will make it your best year ever?

Maybe you haven't thought about it yet and will when you get back from leave. Too late! You will be like the rest of us, playing catch up! Give some thought to these questions and let me know if I can help.

Do I need to plan better in 2016? Strategic Planning Facilitation can help.

We offer strategic planning facilitation for everything from micro businesses right up to publicly listed companies. Talk to us now about how we can help you get a clear direction for 2016.

Am I the best leader I can be? Our Mentor Program gets real results.

Our face to face program accelerates your leadership journey and gives you the confidence and strategies to become a better leader.

How can I help my people step up and take more responsibility?

Our Manager 2 Leader one day workshop has helped hundreds of aspiring leaders understand the difference between managing and leading.  We give them practical solutions and a customised blueprint for becoming a more effective leader.

I want to become a better leader, but where do I start?

This is a really common dilemma. Too many choices. It all seems too hard.  Start here - our book - 'The Road Rules for Leadership' is a simple, practical guide to effective leadership. One of Australia's most successful leaders, Wayne Bennett, wrote the foreword.

All the best!

OUR PRIME MINISTER WANTS US TO FAIL

Malcolm Turnbull wants more Australian businesses to risk failing. He said so in his ‘Ideas Boom’ announcement recently. Here’s why I mostly agree with him, and also, some advice on how to make sure you don’t fail.

“Innovation is our future”, spouted the PM in his $1.1 billion policy announcement. What comes with innovation is the risk of failure and many of the components of the PM’s package are about encouraging risk.

I have long thought, and many agree, that for some reason we link our self image and reputation to succeeding at everything. I believe our ego and pride stop us from being adventurous. If we can change our culture to be more okay with failure then more of us will have a go and more will succeed.

I fully support the PM’s encouragement of more businesses taking risks, but at the same time I don’t agree that what we want is an ideas boom. I don’t think we have an ideas problem. What we have is a ‘good ideas problem’.

Many small businesses fail within the first three years of starting. Understanding why they fail is important in making sure that you don’t. An ASIC report found that nearly half of failed businesses lack strategic management skills. Another major reason for small business failure is the lack of the demand for the product or services that the business was trying to supply. In other words, a lot of small business failure can be put down to bad ideas and poor leadership.

So before you rush in and take our PM’s advice and happily risk failure, here are two recommendations that may increase your chances of success. Firstly make sure your idea for your start up is a good idea. Research the problem that your idea will solve. Establish that there is a sustainable market for it.

Secondly, ensure that you have the management and leadership skills to support your business success. Not everyone does, so before you rush in, get the skills you need or get good advice.

Let’s hope that the next big thing is a ‘good ideas boom’.