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"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example"
- John Wooden
 

"If your actions inspire others to DREAM more, LEARN more, DO more and become more...YOU ARE A LEADER."
- John Quincy Adams
     
 


News from Goranson Consulting, Inc.

 
It's that time of year. This weekend is when we literally "fall back" by setting our clocks back one hour. We gain one hour of sleep(YEA!!), get sunshine earlier in our day but also will start to experience an earlier loss of sunlight. Bummer!:( This seems like the appropriate time to send out a word of caution to all who have been following my newsletter and our quest to positively impact your employee engagement. Whether you are a leader, manager, supervisor or front line employee it is up to all of us to give our best effort in not FALLING BACK on our progress on this critical success factor. And a key I have repeated again and again is that we ALL are leaders or potential leaders in our workplaces and in our everyday lives. It doesn't have to say "boss" by your name to exhibit that. So, for all of you, here are some reminders and refreshers on what we need more of today. That would be great leaders!!

DG 
Don't Fall Back on Employee Engagement
    
Times have changed. And so have some of the attributes that make great leaders to guide us through these challenging times. Now, more than ever, the world at work and everywhere needs and is looking for leaders to show us the way.
 
So.....WHAT makes great leaders? Do you have to have the title "Manager, Director, VP, President, CEO" attached to your name to be a true leader? HOW is it different now in the "leadership suite" as compared to before?
 
There are numerous lists, books and articles addressing leadership and the traits or attributes that make a great leader. All are worth reading and taking to heart. Based on my personal experience in over 30 years of business, here's my Top 10. They consistently show up in my working past. And definitely do so today in the great leaders I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with through my own consulting and coaching practice.
 
Top 10 Leadership Qualities
  1. Real, genuine, self-aware and "they are who they are"
  2. Consistent, level-headed, thoughtful, NOT "Dow Jonesers"
  3. Outwardly focused, not all about themselves and their agendas
  4. Good to great communicators that know to L-I-S-T-E-N and truly hear the message
  5. Flexible, able & willing to change
  6. Calculated risk-takers that learn from their failures, using them to grow & improve
  7. Big picture thinkers, forward- thinking in their approach to their actions and plans
  8. Exudes confidence without being perceived as arrogant or self-absorbed
  9. Live in a place of high integrity, honesty
  10. Good relationship builders
 
Great leaders know that you can't do it alone. The effective ones today have discovered people working together is far more effective than the old school style of strong fisted, fiery, authoritarian leadership. Including others in the work, the project, the conversation is important. Listening, giving others a voice, adapting and changing what you might have thought originally to adopting new ideas is admirable and needed. It helps tremendously in building real, valued and meaningful relationships with others. That can have multiple payoffs for all. And that all helps create something that is key to all of this...TRUST! 
 
 
HOW is it different in the leadership role today? The successful leaders at the top of organizations are out in front of their people and their customers more. The really good ones manage by wandering around interactively and getting to know their teams, face to face. They go out and meet their customers and build relationships while increasing their understanding of what they need. More open and revealing about themselves, this in turn makes people understand, appreciate and trust them more. They also know the value and power of group communication, frequent contact, visibility and messages to employees and to customers via social media and web conferencing. Town hall style meetings are making a comeback and they should! In other words, they're not a robot but a real person with family, friends, interests and problems like the rest of us. They "keep it real"!! Modern day leaders are adaptable and know there is more than one way to get the results. One size and one way does not fit all.
 
And the same holds true in their relationships and direction of others. Great leaders know that taking the time to understand each person's preferred style of doing things, likes, dislikes, wants, needs are all vital in doing what really works best. They know to manage to the individual in order to get those results we all are expected to hit and exceed. In turn, this makes them more approachable and keeps them more in tune with what is really going on with their team, business, etc. And this allows them to do so without having to dig for the information in a forced way.
 
Expectations are everything, especially in great leaders. IF we are around leaders that are more consistent in how they present themselves emotionally and in their communication, actions and decision making the better it is for those around them. The feedback I get more than I like to hear in my role as a workplace consultant and development coach is often "I never know what to expect from one day to the next from him or her. I don't know what's right or what's wrong depending on their mood that day. I'm afraid to take the lead or stick my neck out because I never know how that is going to be received".

Sound familiar?? Consistency in how you show up as a leader solves a lot of problems and certainly creates a more positive, workable dynamic around you
.

 
  
We desperately need more leaders in all areas that exhibit some or all of these characteristics. It could be YOU!! Maybe this will help encourage some of you to step up and take the challenge. Good luck!!
 
Talk to you all next month. Thanks for reading.
Dave Goranson
  
Goranson Consulting, Inc.


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