I have always referred clients in new leadership roles to 2 great books, 'Right from the Start' and 'The First 90 Days', both written by Harvard Business School author Professor Michael Watkins. He has just released his latest book, 'Your Next Move', which explores career transitions specifically from the perspective of the 8 most common hurdles.
I found the Watkins Transitions Assessment Tool on the book's website below a particularly useful tool for assessing career transitions and strongly urge anyone embarking upon or considering a transition to use the tool.
www.yournextmove.net
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
KPI's Vs Critical Drivers
Most people know about Key Performance Indicators (KPI's), but what is a 'Critical Driver'?
The problem is that most people are so caught up with bottom line retrospective KPI's, such as quaterly Sales revenue that they miss the 'Critical Drivers' (or prospective KPI's).
A useful analogy to use when differentiating these terms is to ask yourself, "Do I want to know why someone died 90 days after onset of illness, or would it be useful to find out on day 1 that their vital signs, Critical Drivers of life such as Heart rate and Blood Pressure, are trending towards unhealthy levels, so I have time to help them survive before its too late. Now hopefully your business wont die in 90 days if your last quater results were breakeven or above, but why not focus on daily improvement of the steps that lead to sales, like conversion rate and number of qualified prospects met, as the critical driver to look to for lifting the final KPI.
The more often critical drivers are looked at the better the chance for improvement. The more often the leader looks at the Critical Drivers, the more often the team will look at them. If your team know you take these figures seriously by constantly reviewing them without getting distracted away by new ideas every month then they too will sustain their focus on them.
Another example is employee performance review cycles. If you sit down with an employee today and ask them to improve in an area without reviewing it again with them for another 365 days, who do you have to blame for the opportunity cost of a year without improvement? You could try to blame them for not following your advice but how can they deem it important if you are only prepared to spend a couple of minutes per year discussing it.
The problem is that most people are so caught up with bottom line retrospective KPI's, such as quaterly Sales revenue that they miss the 'Critical Drivers' (or prospective KPI's).
A useful analogy to use when differentiating these terms is to ask yourself, "Do I want to know why someone died 90 days after onset of illness, or would it be useful to find out on day 1 that their vital signs, Critical Drivers of life such as Heart rate and Blood Pressure, are trending towards unhealthy levels, so I have time to help them survive before its too late. Now hopefully your business wont die in 90 days if your last quater results were breakeven or above, but why not focus on daily improvement of the steps that lead to sales, like conversion rate and number of qualified prospects met, as the critical driver to look to for lifting the final KPI.
The more often critical drivers are looked at the better the chance for improvement. The more often the leader looks at the Critical Drivers, the more often the team will look at them. If your team know you take these figures seriously by constantly reviewing them without getting distracted away by new ideas every month then they too will sustain their focus on them.
Another example is employee performance review cycles. If you sit down with an employee today and ask them to improve in an area without reviewing it again with them for another 365 days, who do you have to blame for the opportunity cost of a year without improvement? You could try to blame them for not following your advice but how can they deem it important if you are only prepared to spend a couple of minutes per year discussing it.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Seinfeld Method
When trying to establish a daily habit, why not use the simple method Jerry Seinfeld used daily for writing the scripts used in his record breaking sitcom. He put up a 12 month Wall Planner in his home and extended an unbroken ink line through every day he worked on his scripts. It became harder and harder to put off script writing each day the line got longer, until it was an ingrained habit.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Considerations, Fears & Roadblocks
Jack Canfield discusses Considerations, Fears & Roadblocks as the 3 obstacles to goal achievement in his book ‘The Success Principles’.
Considerations are thoughts like “this is going to be hard work”, “I have never done this before”, “the market is already saturated”….etc….etc. Confronting these thoughts is a good thing, because they have been stopping you subconsciously attaining or attempting the goal. Once they are brought into the conscious domain they can be dealt with so you can move past them.
Fears on the other hand are feelings. Fear of rejection, failure and loss are common blocks to achieving goals. To conquer fears you must:-
1- Acknowledge the fear
2- Attempt to understand why is exists.
3- Seek counsel about the fear
4- Look the fear in the eye and take the courage to obliterate it. Try to remember the other fears you have broken through in the past that no longer concern you.
Roadblocks are external circumstances, beyond just thoughts and feelings in your head. Not having enough money to start the project is a common roadblock, yet if you can convey your passion, you can recruit investors to help overcome this obstacle. “Where there’s a will there’s a way”. Some roadblocks, like changing legislation, can seem insurmountable but again your ability to persuade others is down to the power of your own belief in the need for change.
Considerations are thoughts like “this is going to be hard work”, “I have never done this before”, “the market is already saturated”….etc….etc. Confronting these thoughts is a good thing, because they have been stopping you subconsciously attaining or attempting the goal. Once they are brought into the conscious domain they can be dealt with so you can move past them.
Fears on the other hand are feelings. Fear of rejection, failure and loss are common blocks to achieving goals. To conquer fears you must:-
1- Acknowledge the fear
2- Attempt to understand why is exists.
3- Seek counsel about the fear
4- Look the fear in the eye and take the courage to obliterate it. Try to remember the other fears you have broken through in the past that no longer concern you.
Roadblocks are external circumstances, beyond just thoughts and feelings in your head. Not having enough money to start the project is a common roadblock, yet if you can convey your passion, you can recruit investors to help overcome this obstacle. “Where there’s a will there’s a way”. Some roadblocks, like changing legislation, can seem insurmountable but again your ability to persuade others is down to the power of your own belief in the need for change.
Monday, June 29, 2009
How does Coaching help?
As an Executive & Business Coach, people I met often ask "How does coaching help executives & business owners?". The detail I give them depends on how much time they have. As I always say, "Systemise the routine, Humanise the exception", so I have decided to systemise my initial answer to this FAQ(Fequently Asked Question) on this Blog. I can "Humanise" any "exceptional" enquiries you may have by contacting me directly.
Here are the 20 most common areas my coaching has helped clients. There are many other areas I have assisted clients with their individual needs, which are too numerous to list here.
1 –Uncover and then deal with blindspots.
2- Crush excuses.
3- Coach leaders to lead others to change the way they work and sustain the changes.
4- Keep clients on track with goals despite competing workplace distractions.
5- Revitalise and maintain motivation.
6- Maintain Accountability to do what you know needs doing.
7- Sounding board for finding solutions.
8- Leverage current skills, experience and resources for strong leadership.
9-Coach teams to deliver more with less.
10-Link performance to key metrics on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.
11-Strategic and tactical problem solving.
12-Highlight why some employees aren’t held accountable for results and how to fix it.
13-Coach how to spend less time on "fires" and more time setting direction for the company.
14-Coach how to make a quick transition in a new role.
15-Coach how to recruit, retain, and develop top talent.
16-Coach how to get your people thinking more like owners so they will go the "extra mile".
17- Coach how to think more strategically and how to act more like an entrepreneur.
18- Coach conflict resolution & reduction.
19-Help develop high ROI initiatives – and kill activities that waste time and money.
20- Develop self-reflection to ensure high-level performance continues well after coaching ends.
Here are the 20 most common areas my coaching has helped clients. There are many other areas I have assisted clients with their individual needs, which are too numerous to list here.
1 –Uncover and then deal with blindspots.
2- Crush excuses.
3- Coach leaders to lead others to change the way they work and sustain the changes.
4- Keep clients on track with goals despite competing workplace distractions.
5- Revitalise and maintain motivation.
6- Maintain Accountability to do what you know needs doing.
7- Sounding board for finding solutions.
8- Leverage current skills, experience and resources for strong leadership.
9-Coach teams to deliver more with less.
10-Link performance to key metrics on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.
11-Strategic and tactical problem solving.
12-Highlight why some employees aren’t held accountable for results and how to fix it.
13-Coach how to spend less time on "fires" and more time setting direction for the company.
14-Coach how to make a quick transition in a new role.
15-Coach how to recruit, retain, and develop top talent.
16-Coach how to get your people thinking more like owners so they will go the "extra mile".
17- Coach how to think more strategically and how to act more like an entrepreneur.
18- Coach conflict resolution & reduction.
19-Help develop high ROI initiatives – and kill activities that waste time and money.
20- Develop self-reflection to ensure high-level performance continues well after coaching ends.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Success Formula
What factors can you increase to improve your chances of succeeding with a particular project?
Success Formula = Desire x Belief x Talent
Talent = Natural Aptitude x Training
Desire = Passion (strong feeling or emotion) for the project x Need (a state requiring supply or relief).
Belief = (Optimism from knowing it can be done) x (Confidence from past successes)
Natural aptitude may be fixed like IQ, but the other variables can be increased. If you cant lift these variables, maybe this is the wrong project for you to pursue.
Success Formula = Desire x Belief x Talent
Talent = Natural Aptitude x Training
Desire = Passion (strong feeling or emotion) for the project x Need (a state requiring supply or relief).
Belief = (Optimism from knowing it can be done) x (Confidence from past successes)
Natural aptitude may be fixed like IQ, but the other variables can be increased. If you cant lift these variables, maybe this is the wrong project for you to pursue.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Deal with 'Poor Performers' A.S.A.P
In a Cause-and-effect Universe, there is no such thing as an employee performing poorly without others paying for it. Poor performers reduce the morale of better performers, who either drop back their own performance and/or leave. Poor performance grows like a cancer and needs excising ASAP. The reason managers avoid dealing with this issue is because their fear of confronting the situation is greater than the problem. What about the fear of losing business and star employees? Fears of challenging others blind managers from thinking about what will happen if they don't prevent things sliding further downhill. I challenge you to challenge your fears on this subject and open your eyes to the actions you need to take to get people back on track.
On the positive side, let’s look at the benefits of dealing with the poor performer:-
1 – The ‘poor performer’ improves or they make way for somebody else that is willing to perform at the required level.
2- You get increased respect of your leadership coming from all 360 degrees of your work environment.
3- The rest of the team lifts their performance, knowing that the standards are real.
4- Your own confidence grows because you have broken through a fear, making it easier to do next time. This also has a kick-on effect for challenging your other fears.
5- You become a role model for your direct reports to follow suit with their poorly performing staff.
If the ‘poor performer’ leaves, don’t worry about covering the gap because the team will pull together to keep things moving, knowing the future will be brighter with a new person pulling their weight.
On the positive side, let’s look at the benefits of dealing with the poor performer:-
1 – The ‘poor performer’ improves or they make way for somebody else that is willing to perform at the required level.
2- You get increased respect of your leadership coming from all 360 degrees of your work environment.
3- The rest of the team lifts their performance, knowing that the standards are real.
4- Your own confidence grows because you have broken through a fear, making it easier to do next time. This also has a kick-on effect for challenging your other fears.
5- You become a role model for your direct reports to follow suit with their poorly performing staff.
If the ‘poor performer’ leaves, don’t worry about covering the gap because the team will pull together to keep things moving, knowing the future will be brighter with a new person pulling their weight.
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