Accomplishment Coaching

Remember starting that new job?  Or moving into a new position after a promotion?  As exciting as it can be, it frequently comes with some challenges, especially for a new sales manager.

So, what are the greatest challenges a new sales director / manager faces?  And most importantly, what are some ways to move beyond those challenges?

1) Overcoming the context of “You need to fix the mess your predecessor left behind.”

Suggestion = Start a dialogue with your boss and direct reports to get their experience of your predecessor complete. No matter what happened with your predecessor, you’re walking into an existing context that may not support your success. Context is decisive, so if you don’t address this, you will have a heck of a time “proving yourself” because your boss and team will be constantly comparing you to your predecessor rather than the actual goals of the organization.

2) Align the existing sales team on your vision, commitment and goals for the organization.

Suggestion = A new sales director/manager (like any human) will automatically focus on their performance. That’s not your job. Your job is to publicize your vision, commitment and goals for the organization by fostering partnerships, defining clear expectations, and implementing a uniform project design or results plan that everyone is accountable to – including you.

3) Ensuring an effective and fair system for having the right team in place.

Suggestion = Fostering authentic and responsible relationships with your team AND defining crystal clear expectations is paramount. In doing so, you have the ability to inspire, acknowledge, discipline and terminate members of your team with the fewest negative consequences. Have a clear results measurement system, publicize it, coach your team to take appropriate action on the plan, offer feedback immediately, and don’t be afraid to make changes to the team at any time.

As a new leader, you have a terrific opportunity to make a difference.  By focusing on serving your new team, you will accelerate relationships and results immediately.

Leadership is often thought of as a mysterious title or set of skills, available only to a priviledged few.  That is not the case.

Listen in to my interview with architect and carpenter, Roger Wade.  Roger shares an inspirational story of leading by example in family and career.

Listen in by clicking here.

Happy Listening,

-Coach Preston

Tired of always having the answer?

What questions is your leadership team asking?  Perhaps more importantly, what questions is your leadership team NOT asking?

Your organization’s ability to ask the “right questions” is critical to its success.  Unfortunately, your business, like mine, is likely at the effect of the training and experience each individual has received for years through American academia and culture – the training called having the “right answer”.

We see it daily in our lives:

• Our children are rewarded at school for the highest number of right answers
• Our businesses and organizations reward employees for having the right answers and doing the job correctly
• Our clients pay us handsomely for giving them the right answers
• We spend thousands of dollars a month or year marketing ourselves as “experts” – i.e. the one who has the best answers

So, it’s not surprising to consider that all of us have been programmed to have the “right answers”.

At first glance, having the right answer offers many benefits:

• Students who have more right answers get higher grades
• Workers who can solve problems quickly get more money and promotions
• People are recognized as experts when they have more of the right answers

It would seem that having the right answers is all we need to succeed in life.

Today, I’m going to challenge that belief.  Consider our emphasis on having the right answers actually debilitates us and keeps us small and safe.

You see, when we insist on having the right answers:

• We are attached to being right which drastically narrows our ability to create vision or get altitude (perspective) on situations
• We develop a powerful context of black/white or either/or thinking that kills off tremendous possibility
• We inhibit powerful creativity and access to new perspectives
• We frequently dis-empower our team leading to dissention and confusion

As leaders, we cannot afford to have the right answers. 

Case in point – GM, Chrysler and Ford have all been playing the game of “right answers”.  For years, they’ve been telling us what the best cars are to drive.  For two of those three organizations, that philosophy has led to some incredibly tough times.

So what’s the alternative?

Please take a moment to reflect on the following question:

What’s possible for you, your business and your team if you spent just 20% more time focused on identifying the right questions?

In Germany, major business organizations (Diamler, Siemans, SAP for example), have entire departments dedicated to Grundsatzfragen, meaning “fundamental questions”.  The primary role of this department is to create and discuss fundamental questions.   When many of these companies have been acquired by a US company, the Grundsatzfagen departments have been eliminated.  (Click for attribution and more)

Questions are the life-blood of creativity, reinvention and evolution.  Questions stir vision, purpose and passion.  Questions lead to some of the richest conversations that not only spur collaborative and intimate relationships, but ultimately lead to the most effective “right answers”.

Do you know what question led to the invention of the McDonald’s fast food empire?  Ray Kroc asked, “Where can I get a good hamburger on the road?”  Ray didn’t start with having the right answer.

Leadership Practices:

1. Play a game.  For one week, record the number of times you give people the answer.  Scoring key = 0-3 times – great work empowering questions; 4-6 times – you’ve got some room to practice asking more questions; 7-10 times – congratulations – you’re not only the “answer-man/woman but you’ve effectively eliminated all creativity and have trained your team to be entirely dependent on you! 
2. Practice asking questions that evoke a future vision rather than solve a problem.  For example, “What’s the possibility or opportunity we see inside our overtime situation?” rather than “How do we reduce overtime?”
3. Create a semi-monthly meeting (twice a month) in which you and your leadership DO NOT answer a single question or issue.  Make the sole purpose of this meeting to identify the “right questions” your leadership team needs to be asking.
4. Invite a facilitator in to run a Leadership Cafe for you – it’s a powerful, structured experience that allows you to identify the right questions your oganization needs to be asking.

Giving up always having the answer may not happen overnight, but focusing on the right questions will get you further, create more success and, ultimately, have you develop a more fulfilling business and team.

Happy Curiosity,

-Coach Preston

If you’re wondering what coaching is all about, here is a terrific opportunity to discover what the world of professional coaching has to offer.

Today and tomorrow in East Lansing, MI, the Professional Coaches Association of Michigan is hosting their annual conference.  It’s open to anyone who’s interested.

I’m heading up there this morning and would love to see you there. 

Learn more at MichiganCoaches.org.

Cheers,

-Coach Preston

Feel like you're one of these?

In watching a past episode of The West Wing, I was reminded of how much we want to be everyone’s friend.  Or more realistically, how frequently we avoid rocking the boat.

The scene was between Charlie Young, the President’s personal assistant and Andrew Macintosh, the White House IT (computer) guy.  In the scene, Charlie explains to Andrew that his mom, a DC cop, was shot in the line of duty not long ago.  On top of that, Charlie is working out his experience of being the target of an assassin’s unsuccessful gunshot. 

Although Andrew had recently been joking around with Charlie, the scene got very somber when, as Charlie is searching for the lesson is in these two situations, Andrew says, “You know Charlie, when they’re shooting’ at you, it means you’re doing something right.”

When they’re shooting at you, it means you’re doing something right.

How frequently have we softened our voices, turned a cheek, avoided a conversation, or just simply hidden out?

For most of us, this is how it typically goes.  We avoid speaking or sharing authentically for fear of someone disagreeing with us.  We sit in the back of the seminar room so we won’t be called upon.  We’re unfaithful to our values and create structures of mediocrity in our businesses because we refuse to have the difficult conversations.  We find ourselves saying “yes” when we really mean “no”.  We avoid, at all costs, the risk of someone shooting at us.

And we get the results commiserate with that (lack of) commitment.

So, what if we were willing to be shot at?  Actually, what if we actually embraced the idea that we’ll be shot at?  Certainly not in the literal sense; but shot by words, or judgments, or opinions.  What if we were to stand up and say “This isn’t right.” and BE responsible for it?  What if we were to have that difficult conversation?  What if we were to ask the “stupid” question?

I led a workshop recently with the medical staff of a surgeon’s group.  They hired me in to support their team in creating more effective teamwork.  Throughout the day, it was clear the conversation was getting uncomfortable as a coaching conversation will.  We were working toward identifying the root of the individualism that permeates this organization.  With just an hour left in the day, someone finally spoke up.  She said, “The reason we will never truly succeed as a team is because there is zero trust in this organization.”

The proverbial dropped pin made a huge sound.

In saying that, this team member risked being shot at.  And she was.  But that one declaration created a huge shift in the day.  The root of their challenges was identified and brought into daylight.  A powerful conversation was opened and the team got access to a new opportunity (gifting trust) to bring back to work on Monday.

That opportunity would have never risen had someone not been willing to do the right thing… simply speak what she saw.

So what’s possible for you as a leader if you were to put aside your fear of being shot?

Leadership Practices:

1. Identify the three most dangerous conversations you can have with family, employees or friends.
2. Have one of them this week.
3. Notice what you can and can’t be with (resist or not) about these conversations.
4. Look up the dictionary definition of “gift”.  Do you offer your trust based on that definition?
5. For one week, journal about your experience with being dangerous.  Where do you jump into danger?  Where do you avoid it?
6. Invite one of your employees, colleagues or business associates to share three ideas on how you can improve your leadership.  If they share “softballs”, consider you’ve created a relationship with little trust (“if you shoot me, I’ll shoot you”).  If they share the “hardballs”, consider you’ve created trust (“I’ll be okay if you shoot”).

Someone asked me once what I thought the most dangerous job in the world was.  After pondering six or seven different careers, it became clear it wasn’t about the actual job function.  The most dangerous job in the world is being a leader.

Lead dangerously,

- Coach Preston