KATHY ARCHER
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Less Managing and More Leading: 3 Strategies

30/11/2015

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​Are you a manager or a leader? Here is the simple question to help you see: Are you trying to move things forward or are you trying to stabilize them?

We need to both manage and lead
Likely you do both, but at different times. The challenge is that we get caught in managing. We spend most of our time, heads down just trying to survive. More often and we need to manage less and lead more. Here are the differences and 3 strategies to help you lean to leading your team more often. 
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​Manage try to steady things
If, at that moment, you are trying to stabilize things, keep them in line, and follow procedures, then you are managing.  

Here is what managing looks like:
When you wear the manager’s hat, you are;
  • Managing budgets
  • Setting up work schedules
  • Ensuring people are following their job descriptions
  • Reviewing procedures at a staff meeting
  • Solving the problem of the day
  • Returning emails
  • Attending many of the meetings we are required to attend

Managers get stuff done
Managers are maintaining order and consistency.  They are keeping things status quo. In essence, they are getting the work done.

Leaders are moving things forward
Shifting into leadership mode means that instead maintaining status quo, you’re now looking to challenge the status quo. You are looking to get out of the steady, sure place and find more movement forward.  Leaders focus on change, movement, and growth.

This is what leadership looks like
Putting on your leadership hat has you do these activities:
  • Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture
  • Thinking strategically
  • Creating a vision

Leaders develop others and the company
Leaders motivate, inspire, and energized team members to grow, develop to be all they can be. In doing so, this also creates the space for the company to be all it can be. Leaders help individuals and team to reach their full potential.

We are better at one or the other role usually
Most of us find it easier to do one or the other of these roles.  We need to both manage and to lead so that we can effectively run an organization. Is important to get clear on the distinction of the difference between a leader and manager and know when we need to shift between the two.

Only leading or managing gets you into trouble
When we sit on one side of the other too long, it creates a void.  Yes, we need to stabilize for a moment, but we also need to keep moving.  Staying still too long makes us stagnant. On the other hand always racing forward can lead to no foundation with which build on. Only focusing on the future can create chaos and essentially you spin out of control.

Leaders need to know how to shift back-and-forth
Leaders need to switch back and forth from their manager hat to their leadership hat. Your strength may be in seeing the future potential of an employee, and so you focus on that during their performance review. You talk to them about their goals and help them decide what training they need to take over the next year. To shift, you may also need to have a conversation with them about them being late with paperwork. That conversation manages the day-to-day challenges and serves to stabilize their work and how that affects the rest of the team.

Don’t gets stuck in managing
I have noticed that many of us, regardless of whether it is our strength or not, tend to focus on getting stuff done in the here and now. That work is what is in front of us. It is the squeaky wheel demanding our attention. On the surface level, it appears to be what we are supposed to be doing. But if we stay only here, we are missing a much bigger picture that also needs to attention.

Add more leading time
I challenge you to incorporate more leading if your day-to-day work.  When you can set your sights farther down the road, you can look up and gain perspective. 
  • That big picture view helps you to realize that the urgent email isn’t as urgent as it appears. 
  • It allows you to see where completing this task of the day fits into the overall growth of the program over the next six months. 
  • Focusing on leading more gives you a different outlook on what appears to be the biggest challenge you face. It often doesn’t look so imperative when you see it lined up with everything over the next year.
Here are three ways you can be a leader on a day-to-day basis
1)    Develop annual goals set for yourself and the company
Create a routine that allows you scan and review your company and individual goals at the beginning of each day.

As you take 3 minutes each day to reconnect with the bigger picture, it will help you to align your day’s tasks and actions with that vision.


2)    Make a habit of asking yourself: “How does this fit into the bigger picture?”

Imagine being asked to attend a meeting, be on a committee or take on a project. Without stepping back, those things can seem very important at the time. When you step back and get perspective, it’s easier to see if they are that vital. If you see they aren’t, this simple activity will give you the words to decline such invitations. “That sounds like an exciting opportunity. While I’m tempted to join, it doesn’t line up with the three strategic priorities I have for this year”.

3)    Make a point of connecting your current topic with the future vision in most of your conversations with employees.
  • If you are reprimanding someone for being late, remind them of the overall goal to have smoother shift transitions and their role in that.
  • When you are introducing a new policy on training, ask staff to identify how it will help them develop as identified in their individual goals. 
  • When someone comes to you and asks you to solve their current dilemma, ask: “Remind me again, what skill you are developing in yourself? What can I do to help develop that skill in this situation?” If they are working on approaching staff before things blow up, you might coach them to come up with what to say rather than just telling them.
Practice leading more often
When you get clearer on demonstrating leadership more often, you will develop your team to be stronger, more independent and more engaged. In doing so, you will find your organization more cohesive and will advance quicker towards the goals set out in your visioning processes. Learn to shift back and forth between managing and leading, but heighten your desire to lead more often.

Question
What strategy will you apply in your role as leader and what do you want to achieve by doing that?

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Learn this trick from athletes to gain leadership courage

25/11/2015

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Do you ever watch athletes and wonder - How? How the heck do they get where they are?

How do they go in front of thousands of people and perform while you struggle to get the words out in a meeting of 10 peers? An athlete seems to bounce back after they lose. You, on the other hand, would like to stay home the day after you say something less than eloquent at a business meeting..
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The trick you can learn from athletes is this:
Do not be afraid to fail. 

Athletes see success as a process
They can’t always win, especially in the beginning. Athletes must work their way up. High performing athletes view failure as opportunities for learning.
What does an athlete do?
  • They practice
  • They get back up
  • They accept feedback 
  • They learn from their mistakes
  • They look to others for guidance
  • They try again, and again and again
  • They have grit - perseverance and passion for their long term goals.
If you were to apply these same lessons to your leadership, consider what you might get.

Practice
You might decide on one skill you are working on each month and work hard at it. Perhaps it is patience, planning better for meetings or staying focused on a task. The practice you put in will result in a better performing you.

Get back up
When something knocks you down, rather than wallowing in it, you’d get back up. No need to complain about it at the water cooler. Just bounce back and keep moving forward.

Accept Feedback
One of the things we often do is resist the feedback in our performance appraisals. I mean the stuff we don’t like. Instead, we might be more open to what we hear. By getting curious about feedback instead of resisting to it, we improve our performance. 

Learn from our mistakes
The key to learning from mistakes is to look for the lesson and then apply what you learned. Perhaps you neglected to complete the written part of formally disciplining an employee. Then, similar incidents happened.  Because you didn’t have the documentation for the last two, you can't move to dismiss them the 3rd time around. The lesson is to keep your paperwork up to date. But if you don’t do anything different in your processes, it means you didn’t apply the lesson. A new system or habit for documenting would need to be embarked.

Look to others for guidance
Do you have a mentor, a guide or a coach? You should. These are the people you go to for learning? We all need a wise, experienced person to point us in the right direction. 

Exercise GRIT
Try again and again with perseverance and passion to meet your long-term goals. This is developing your grit.

Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit is the ability to dig deep, even when the going it tough. We all could benefit from more of that. 

Applying these lessons in leadership
When you put all of this into practice, you will find you have more courage to step into some of the more uncomfortable places you may find yourself. But in doing so, you will find more courage and thus be more confident. The more self-assured you find yourself, the more boldly you’ll step out next time. Courage and confidence go hand in hand. 

Athletes know they need to trust the journey and have faith in the process
It’s a learning adventure. Mistakes and failures are a part of it. But with the mindset to learn and grow and access to wise guides along the way, the journey is far easier. You'll find this too when you apply these lessons to your leadership journey. You'll have more courage to be your most powerful self.
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3 Steps to Becoming a Better Leader (and having fewer regrets)

17/11/2015

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​If you've said or done something you regret at work lately, this is for you. We've all been there. Losing it is embarrassing! It also doesn't help you gain respect from your employees.
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Many times I said something I regretted
Years ago, as I was yelling at my admin support, I was not controlling what I was saying. I'm pretty sure the words just spewed out of my mouth without any conscious thought, preplanning or concern for their impact. The effect was damaging to my relationship. In my early career as a leader, I truly lacked emotional intelligence. 

Emotional Intelligence is Important for Leaders
Emotional intelligence is the ability to become aware of our emotions and manage our emotions. Both of those are critical in leadership, especially when dealing with challenging situations.
Emotional intelligence, a term coined by Daniel Goldman, is
the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
The first key to increasing your Emotional Intelligence is self-awareness
You must be aware of what you are thinking and feeling. A million thoughts are going through our minds at any given moment. Most of those thoughts are unconscious. It is our thoughts that create our emotions and then how we act. We need to get more aware of those thoughts before they hijack our emotions.
  • If I think someone is attacking me, I feel defensive. I might then lash out. 
  • If I think something is scary, I feel worried or anxious. I then act paranoid. When I am fearful, I might unreasonably stifle staff's creativity.
  • If I think the staff are inept, I feel annoyed when they make a mistake.​ My reaction might be to use sarcasm to make a point about their lack of skills. 
Step #1 - Pay attention to your thoughts 
Notice when you think someone is not doing something right, doesn't care about their job, or is out to get you. Become more aware when you are critical of yourself or judging someone's motives. ​

Try naming your feelings. 
  • Wow, that just made me feel defensive.
  • When he said that I became annoyed.
  • The way she said that just made me tense up.
Step # 2 - Challenge your thoughts
  • Is what you are thinking true?  
  • Is there another way to see it?  
  • What else might be possible?
When you start to think differently, you feel different.
Step #3 – Manage your thoughts
After you become aware of your thoughts, you can choose to change them. When you change your thoughts, you change your emotions. 

When you notice that you’re angry because the staff has not done what you thought they should do, you can consciously plan your response rather than simply reacting out of anger.

The first response might be:
  •  Well, that was a dumb thing to do, wasn’t it?
When you manage your emotions, the response might be more like:
  • When you do that way, it affects the rest of the team in this way...
Another example:
Imagine being exasperated with all the questions from your employees about the newly released form. That exasperation might lead you to respond with this kind of comment:
  • Look, that’s just the way it is. Suck it up.

An Emotionally Intelligent leader would recognize their irritation. They might have noticed their agitation building.  This would have been a clue for them about what was going on for them emotionally.

A more aware leader would have perhaps considered what the staff were thinking.
I’m assuming the staff are asking stupid questions. But the truth may be that they are anxious about these new forms. They may be worried about the extra work it will do for them. ​

The emotionally aware leader might then craft a response differently. For example, they may say:
  • Hey, guys, I feel your anxiety around this new form.  Let’s give it a try, and we’ll re-evaluate it in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, make sure to note any concerns. 
Grow your Emotional Intelligence, grow your leadership
When you work on your emotional intelligence, you work on your leadership. When you are better able to recognize, understand, and manage your emotions, the way you lead will change for the better. 

​Learn more about emotional intelligence in my book Mastering Confidence: Reach Your Leadership Potential by Awakening Your Inner Guidance System. In it, you'll discover a system that you can use in your already busy days, to become more emotionally intelligent and confident!
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Being happier at work takes this age-old skill

10/11/2015

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​All of us have done the mindless clicking from our inbox to Facebook, back to our inbox. It’s not Facebook’s fault. We got distracted long before social media existed.
The reason we are clicking away mindlessly is not because we get distracted. It is because we are avoiding something.
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I was a master at avoiding
Before the Facebook days, I would water my plants, re-organize binders of information I’d never look at again or chit chat with an employee about the weather, our kids or the latest community gossip. All the time, I had work to do. I was doing other things, simply to avoid the work I didn't want to do.
 
I didn’t want to:
 
•    Complete the dreaded paperwork.
•    Have a conversation with staff about their performance.
•    Write the report, proposal or contract that was on my desk.
 
To get at all of those tasks required a measure of self-control. I had to be disciplined. I needed to exercise my willpower.
 
We need to exercise willpower
Willpower is the age old skill of self-control, restraint, strength, and determination.  Willpower happens in your head. Our mind-chatter tries to get us to avoid pain. That inner dialogue suggests to us, subconsciously, that doing the work will hurt. Our inner voice says, that somehow if we do the task in from of us, it will be painful, hard or troublesome. So instead, that little gremlin inside suggests we scan the newsfeed instead. 
 
We must be determined to stay on task
It takes a level of resolve to push past that and get to work, especially agonizing jobs. To stay on task, get done the important work and leave feeling productive at the end of your day, you must activate your willpower.
 
The research on willpower can help us
There are three parts of willpower according to willpower researcher Kelly McGonigal; I will, I won’t, I want. 
I will, I won't I want

I will
I will, is what you were going to do. It is the goal.
I will lose 10 lbs.
 
I won’t
I won’t is what you’re resisting. It is what you won’t do. This is what you will avoid or what you will stay away from.
I won’t eat the donuts at the meeting today.
 
I want
I want, is why it matters. What is the point in meeting this goal? Why are you trying to do it? It’s often attached to your values and beliefs.
Get clear on the big picture and what's haunting you today
Many people tie the I want element to something grandiose such as, “I want to live a long healthy life”. This is important, but only part of the puzzle. You must also look at what the smaller parts of the I want element to help you when the donut is right in front of you.
 
Instead, when we get really clear about why we want it in the nearer future or in a smaller, more meaningful way, it’s easier to be strong-willed. For example, I might avoid the donut today because I want to fit into that dress next month.

Applying willpower at work
Now let us tie willpower back to day-to-day work. What are you trying to accomplish at work? Let’s look at my examples from earlier.
Paperwork
I will get caught up in my paperwork.
I won’t (here is where willpower comes in) let myself get distracted when I get frustrated, bored or irritated with the paperwork.
I want to go home tonight feeling that I had a productive day.
 
Conversation with staff
I will make the conversation a priority today to address Cindy’s poor documentation.
I won’t put it off again today even if something comes up.
I want to let go of the heaviness hanging over me about that conversation.
 
Report
I will get 3 sections done on that report today.
I won’t avoid it when I feel stupid, overwhelmed or in over my head with it.
I want to learn how to write more professionally.
Practicing willpower makes you happier
When you practice accessing your willpower, you will find you are better able to get through some of your more challenging work. It will engage your inner desires to do important, meaningful, but sometimes difficult tasks. In doing so, you will feel more accomplished and confident. Activation your willpower finds you being more productive and going home at the end of the day, a happier person.
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Restoring Confidence in Yourself: Healing From Leadership Ordeals

6/11/2015

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Each one of us has been through the wringer more times than we care to remember as leaders. 

Leaders take a lot of hits
From challenging staff, and mean bosses, to simply exhaustion from an overwhelming workload. Most, leaders simply knuckle down and try to power through. ​
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Leaders neglect themselves
The problem is, incident after incident, hit after hit, we just keep adding it on to our already damaged bodies, minds, and souls. As we pile on damage, our confidence deteriorates. We become less effective and find less joy in what we do. This decline is because we never take true, time to heal.

It's time for healing
Healing. That word doesn't seem to fit with leadership.  But they must go together. If you want to be an effective, powerful and happy leader, you must add healing to your world.
Injuries require healing time
We have all had a little scratch that we didn't think much about and it just went away. A pulled muscle in your back likely caused more thought and attention to have it heal. The same is true in varying levels of broken bones, serious strains or when someone has a heart attack. If we don't give a physical injury time to heal, it continues to aggravate us. We may reinjure it easier. Unchecked, injuries can lead to other complications.

It is time for a mindset shift
A harsh comment from a boss or board member can sting. Persistent challenging behaviour from a staff can drain our energy and damage our courage. Long hours, high stress and extreme pressures are injuries. They hurt us. Some of the injuries hurt us physically, causing muscle tension or fatigue. Other injuries damage us psychologically. Often hardest hit, is our confidence.

We start to question ourselves
Leadership injury, trauma or damage, challenges our confidence. We begin to question ourselves:
  • Can I really do this?
  • Am I the right person?
  • Do I have what it takes?

The answer to all three of these questions is YES!
  • Yes, you can do this.
  • Yes, you are the right person.
  • Yes, you do have what it takes.

You have to believe
That is where confidence comes in.  You have to believe you have what it takes to lead and to lead fully. If your ankle is still sore, you won't play full out. If you are unsure if your back can handle it, you will not go on that big hike. If your heart hasn't healed, you won't be running around on the playground with your grandchild. If you don't heal, you lose confidence in your abilities.

If your heart hasn't healed, you won't be your powerful self
When you haven't healed from the hurtful comments you received, you will stay quiet. If you haven't taken the time to reconcile the last attack on you at the staff meeting, you'll be hesitant to bring forward the next issue that needs to be addressed. If you don't heal from each incident small or large, they will simply continue to pile up on each other. 
Healing Tips
1) Think about it differently
See what is going on as an injury. A change in mindset helps not to gloss over what happened.

2) Have self-compassion
Recognize the impact this incident had on you.  Be compassionate towards yourself. It hurt!

3) Take time to heal
Healing doesn't have to take hours or days. Healing can take place in the moment or in hidden moments that you gift yourself. The key is to allow it to happen.
  • Cry
  • Scream
  • Journal
  • Let it go
  • Do something positive to restore yourself


Restore your confidence
When you take the time to recognize the damage inflicted by the day-to-day realities of leadership, it gives you the opportunity to do something about it. Recognizing the damage and then compassionately dealing with it will put you back on the right track to restoring your confidence. If you need some help to restore your confidence, grab my book Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system. In it, you'll see how I dealt with the trauma I experienced as a leader and be guided through a system that will help you restore your confidence.
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Confidence = Getting a grip on the voices in your head

3/11/2015

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Mind chatter:
  • You suck!
  • Are you stupid?
  • You just got walked on, again!
  • I can’t believe you just did that!
The self-sabotaging remarks we think wreak havoc on our confidence. The constant onslaught of judgments that reel through our mind does more to challenge our confidence than what other people actually utter.
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The Voice
These gremlins in our mind have a name. They are called Resistance.
 
Resistance is the voice inside us that keeps us small
It prevents us from doing anything out of the norm. It is working very hard to keep things status quo. Resistance shoves us away from our truly important work. It distracts us from doing the work that will have our strengths and our greatness shine. Resistance prevents us from meeting our potential.
​Resistance might show up for you as follows:
  • Avoiding a progress report you are supposed to write.
  • Dodging the email response, you need to compose to your boss.
  • Putting off having a much-needed conversation with an employee. 
​Instead of working on these things:
  • You check your inbox, again.
  • You go to get another cup of coffee, careful to avoid the employee you should be talking to.
  • You start on the staff meeting agenda because it must be done.
None of those is truly more important than writing the progress report, talking to the staff or composing the email, but you didn’t even notice Resistance sneaking in and keeping things just the way they are. 
"Don't rock the boat" Resistance whispers
​Resistance job is to keep things status quo
 
But status quo means no change. It means you will continue to feel stuck and trapped. Resistance robs you of joy, happiness, and fulfillment. If you don’t change, nothing will change.
 
This is how it looks in your daily work
Resistance shows up as fear, doubt, procrastination, perfectionism, distraction and withdrawal.
FEAR – I am scared to do that. I’m worried about repercussions.
 
DOUBT – I don’t think I can handle it. I am not sure I am capable.
 
PROCRASTINATION – I will do it later. There are other things needing to be done first.
 
PERFECTIONISM – It’s still not quite right, so I won’t send it. I have the find the right time to talk to her.
 
DISTRACTION – Oh crap, I was supposed to do that today. I totally forgot, with everything else going on.
 
WITHDRAWL – I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t even know where to start. I just can’t handle it now. 
Here is what to do
Move through it. Resistance is a self-made wall. It’s the mental block you have created in your mind. Fear is internal. You create doubt. Only you allow yourself to get distracted. It's time to get control of the mind chatter.
 
Step #1 – Increase your AWARENESS of your mind chatter
Listen to what is going on in your mind. It’s the constant dialogue that goes on inside your mind that is an important piece. The thing you must realize is that you can control it. It is up to you to notice and then to talk back.
 
Step # 2 - Identify your VALUES and your GOAL.
Why is it important that you move this barrier or step through this wall? Is it because you are working too many hours and you value your time with your family? Reminding yourself of that goal will help you to pull you through the wall that the voice of Resistance has built.
 
Step # 3 – Persist, PERSIST, Persist
Be determined to move through the wall. Stick with it. Come back to the thing you want, again and again. Sheer will and drive will get you past resistance and moving to what you really want.
Examples of moving through Resistance
 
The Resistant voice: It’s not quite right. I can’t send it yet.
The voice of Confidence: Actually, it’s good enough. It’s my best, and I need to move past this. Hit send now!
 
The Resistant voice: She’s with Cindy. I can’t address the issue now.
The voice of Confidence: So ask her to come to your office. Don’t put this off again. Deal with it now.
 
The resistant voice: I’m worried she’s going to be mad
The voice of Confidence: She might be mad. So? You’d be mad too. That doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to address it.
Start to pay more attention to the voices in your head. Take control of what you are saying to yourself. Persevere. If you get connected to why you want something, the determined, confident voice will win.
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    Kathy Archer

    Women leaders often hit a point where they find themselves in over their heads and wondering if they have what it takes to lead.
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    ​In my online courses and coaching I teach them inner and outer tools to restore their lost confidence so they can move from surviving to thriving in both leadership and life.

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