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October/November 2008 Vol 1, Issue 1
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Leadership Central
Thoughts to accelerate your success
Greetings!
 
Welcome to the first edition of Leadership Central. Over the past several years, I have had the privilege of working with many successful business owners and executives who were committed to increasing their leadership capacity.  This newsletter is designed to share what I have learned from them as well as best practices, tools and techniques from industry leaders.
 
Here's to accelerating your leadership success!
 
Beth Armknecht Miller
Executive Coach
 
 
 
Uncertain Times Require Leadership Clarity

It seems like the news about the economy keeps getting worse. The most recent news is the instability of the financial markets which has required the government to step in and take over a number of large financial institutions like AIG, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
 
However, the ongoing bad news continues to create angst among the public, including your employees. Although you may not yet have observed it, what effects your employees personally will affect them professionally. More of your employee's time will be devoted to talking about the bad news and speculating about the future, especially their own financial future as well as your company's future. Not only will they be talking amongst themselves, they will be spending more time on the Internet trying to keep up with the volatile financial news. This will lead to less time being spent on the important aspects of their individual jobs.
Read more...
In This Issue
Uncertain Times Require Leadership Clarity
Five Tips for Accelerated Leadership Success
Employee Engagement- A Leading Indicator of Employee Retention
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Five Tips for Accelerated Success 
  1. Focus on your top performers. What message do you send your 'A' players when you are spending more time working with your 'C' players?

  2. Make leadership development a continuous process, and not an annual event. Coaching is one method of providing on-going interaction and follow-up with each member of your staff, leading to positive change in their behavior.

  3. Before choosing a business coach, be clear about your reasons and goals for being coached. Make sure these goals are aligned with your company's goals.

  4. As a leader, focus on asking good questions which lead employees to suggest a solution to a challenging problem. Once invested in the process, they will then take ownership in executing the solution.

  5. Adapt your leadership style to each person's needs. Every employee has their own unique communication and learning style as well as their preferred way of being motivated.
Employee Engagement - A Leading Indicator of Employee Retention
 
 A June 2008 Employee Engagement Survey by HR Solutions of Chicago revealed that employees were more engaged with their work when they felt:
  1. Supported by their manager when making suggestions to correct work place problems.
  2. Valued and recognized as an important part of the team.
  3. Their manager was helpful and friendly towards them.
So what can happen if your employees are disengaged? 
According to the study, business leaders will experience a lower level of productivity from team members. And based on the research done by Marcus Buckingham in First Break all the Rules, employees who don't feel valued are more likely to leave in search of an employer who does value and recognize them for their accomplishments.  Low employee engagement can also lead to lower profits and levels of customer satisfaction.
 
It is the employee's manager or even the CEO who is the key driver in employee engagement. They are the ones who directly influence employee opinions and attitudes. Read more...