Eric Jacobson

Posts Tagged ‘Leadership Skills’


Leadership Insights From Top Business Women

In Company Culture, Corporate Culture, Effective Communications, Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Engaging Employees, Leadership, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Listening Skills, Management, Mentoring, Team Building on September 6, 2012 at 5:22 pm

Every year, the Kansas City Business Journal honors 25 women business leaders in the Kansas City metro in its “Women Who Mean Business” awards competition.

The winners are identified as those women in the community who:

  • are outstanding in their business accomplishments
  • have growth plans for their companies
  • contribute to the community
  • improve the climate for women in business

Key insights from this year’s recently announced winners include these comments and observations:

  • “Listen to people who know the business.”
  • “I’ve learned when I’m angry to walk away, calm down.  Never, ever, ever react in anger to anybody.”
  • “Loyalty is not something you can spot right away; attitude is.  Attitude is something you can’t teach.”
  • “Mentoring is opening doors for younger people.”
  • “Work hard, but enjoy what you do”
  • “If you don’t give back to the community, how can you be a whole person?”
  • “Our job as business leaders is to bring out the best efforts from the most people.  Give them something purposeful and meaningful, and great things will happen.”
  • “I try to find people that I respect not only professionally, but personally.”
  • “You have to be a good listener and a good problem-solver.”
  • Pay attention and enjoy where you are instead of worrying about what’s 10 steps ahead of you.”
  • “I’m always focusing on what is this decision going to look like five years from now.”
  • “I will not pretend I have all the answers.  I will seek input from others so I can develop the right answers.”

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Leadership Lessons From “Moral Of The Story”

In Company Culture, Corporate Culture, Effective Communications, Employee Engagement, General Leadership Skills, Guiding Business Principles, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Management, Motivating Employees on September 6, 2012 at 5:19 pm

I’m a big fan of best-selling author Harvey Mackay.  He writes about business, sales and leadership and typically ends his articles with a moral of the story.

Culled from his writings of the past three and half years, here are some of my favorites of his moral of the story endings:

  • Change your thinking, change your life.
  • It’s not enough to know how to do things – you must know why you do them.
  • If you live in the past, you won’t have much of a future.
  • If you want to outsmart the competition, you have to outthink the competition.
  • Don’t be afraid to make a decision.  Be afraid not make a decision.
  • What you learn on your first job will last through your last job.
  • Minds are like parachutes – not much good unless they are open.
  • If you can’t be an expert, hire one.
  • People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be.
  • It only takes a little spark to ignite a great fire.
  • Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.

Mackay’s best-selling business books have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. They have been translated into 37 languages and sold in 80 countries.

Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive was a groundbreaking New York Times #1 best seller for 54 weeks.

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25 Ways To Be A Better Leader

In Company Culture, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Listening Skills, Management, Nonprofit Leadership on March 20, 2012 at 5:30 am

If you don’t have time to read a book about how to improve your leadership skills, tackle a handful of these tips, complied from the works of many authors:

  1. Don’t micromanage
  2. Don’t be a bottleneck
  3. Focus on outcomes, not minutiae
  4. Build trust with your colleagues before a crisis comes
  5. Assess your company’s strengths and weaknesses at all times
  6. Conduct annual risk reviews
  7. Talk about values more than rules
  8. Reward how a performance is achieved and not only the performance
  9. Constantly challenge your team to do better
  10. Celebrate your employees’ successes, not your own
  11. Err on the side of taking action
  12. Communicate clearly and often
  13. Be visible
  14. Eliminate the cause of a mistake
  15. View every problem as an opportunity to grow
  16. Summarize group consensus after each decision point during a meeting
  17. Praise when compliments are earned
  18. Be decisive
  19. Say “thank you” and sincerely mean it
  20. Send written thank you notes
  21. Listen carefully and don’t multi-task while listening
  22. Teach something new to your team
  23. Show respect for all team members
  24. Follow through when you promise to do something
  25. Be courageous, quick and fair


Leadership Skills: Be Decisive; Find The Truth; Send A Thank You Note

In Company Culture, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Making Decisions, Management, Motivating Employees on December 11, 2011 at 10:59 am

Be decisive

A manager who can’t make a decision or who can’t make a timely decision will frustrate his/her employees. Equally bad, a lack of decision will impede the progress of the manager’s team.

Some managers make endless requests for data as a way to postpone their having to make a decision. Employees end up spinning in circles, slicing and dicing the information far beyond what is truly needed for the manager to make a decision.

Some managers are simply afraid to make a decision in fear of making a “wrong” decision. These managers don’t necessarily request needless data, but simply just never made a decision.

Successful managers (true leaders) gather the data from their employees, make any necessary follow-up requests (probing beyond what their employee may have researched/gathered on their own), and then make their decision…knowing that in virtually all cases most decisions are not black and white “right or “wrong,” but are the best decisions made at that time for the current circumstances.

Good managers also know that most decisions can be tweaked along the way as their teams carry out their tasks impacted by the decision.

Find The Truth

If you’re a parent of two children you already know that when the two are fighting and child #1 tells you what happened, you then ask child #2 what happened, and most often the truth is somewhere in the middle of what the two children have told you.

Surprisingly, many managers, even when they are parents, don’t use this parenting “discovery” skill in the workplace. Instead, they often listen to only one side of a situation. Whether it is because of lack of interest or lack of time, they don’t proactively seek out the other side of the story.

The unfortunate result is those managers form incorrect perceptions that can often lead to poor decisions and/or directives.

So, the next time two employees are at odds, or when one department complains about another department within your organization, take the time to listen to all sides of the situation to discover the truth that’s in the middle.

Send A Written Thank You Note

Nearly all employees want to do both a good job and please their supervisor. When they succeed, send them a thank you for a job well done.

A short note (handwritten is particularly good) thanking them for a good job is extremely powerful. Particularly for new employees on your team. Or, for employees new to the workforce and early in their careers.

Include in your note a sentence regarding what they did especially well and how their specific action made a positive impact. Remember, be as specific as possible in what you write.

Be sure to send your note soon after the job was completed. If you wait too long (more than a week), the note will lose its impact.

Send your note in a way it can be easily saved by your employee. Even employees who have been on your team for a long time will likely save your note.

Finally, reserve your sending thank you notes for the big jobs, large projects, extra special work. If you send thank you notes too often they’ll lose their effect.


Leaders: Time To Select Your New Year’s Resolutions For 2012

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Management on November 29, 2011 at 7:26 pm

Lose weight.  Exercise more.  Stop smoking.  Read more.  Shop less.  Volunteer.

Okay, so you’re likely already working on selecting your New Year’s resolution for your personal life. But, have you identified your New Year’s resolution for your workplace life?

If not, and you want to be a more effective leader for your team at work in 2012, select one or more of these 70 New Year’s resolutions for leaders:

  1. Don’t micromanage
  2. Don’t be a bottleneck
  3. Focus on outcomes, not minutiae
  4. Build trust with your colleagues before a crisis comes
  5. Assess your company’s strengths and weaknesses at all times
  6. Conduct annual risk reviews
  7. Be courageous, quick and fair
  8. Talk more about values more than rules
  9. Reward how a performance is achieved and not only the performance
  10. Constantly challenge your team to do better
  11. Celebrate your employees’ successes, not your own
  12. Err on the side of taking action
  13. Communicate clearly and often
  14. Be visible
  15. Eliminate the cause of a mistake
  16. View every problem as an opportunity to grow
  17. Summarize group consensus after each decision point during a meeting
  18. Praise when compliments are earned
  19. Be decisive
  20. Say “thank you” and sincerely mean it
  21. Send written thank you notes
  22. Listen carefully and don’t multi-task while listening
  23. Teach something new to your team
  24. Show respect for all team members
  25. Follow through when you promise to do something
  26. Allow prudent autonomy
  27. Respond to questions quickly and fully
  28. Return e-mails and phone calls promptly
  29. Give credit where credit is due
  30. Take an interest in your employees and their personal milestone events
  31. Mix praise with constructive feedback for how to make improvement
  32. Learn the names of your team members even if your team numbers in the hundreds
  33. Foster mutual commitment
  34. Admit your mistakes
  35. Remove nonperformers
  36. Give feedback in a timely manner and make it individualized and specific
  37. Hire to complement, not to duplicate
  38. Volunteer within your community and allow your employees to volunteer
  39. Promote excellent customer service both internally and externally
  40. Show trust
  41. Encourage peer coaching
  42. Encourage individualism and welcome input
  43. Share third-party compliments about your employees with your employees
  44. Be willing to change your decisions
  45. Be a good role model
  46. Be humble
  47. Explain each person’s relevance
  48. End every meeting with a follow-up To Do list
  49. Explain the process and the reason for the decisions you make
  50. Read leadership books to learn
  51. Set clear goals and objectives
  52. Reward the doers
  53. Know yourself
  54. Use job descriptions
  55. Encourage personal growth and promote training, mentoring and external education
  56. Share bad news, not only good news
  57. Start meetings on time
  58. Discipline in private
  59. Seek guidance when you don’t have the answer
  60. Tailor your motivation techniques
  61. Support mentoring – both informal and formal mentoring
  62. Don’t interrupt
  63. Ask questions to clarify
  64. Don’t delay tough conversations
  65. Have an open door policy
  66. Dig deep within your organization for ideas on how to improve processes, policies and procedures
  67. Do annual written performance appraisals
  68. Insist on realism
  69. Explain how a change will impact employees’ feelings before, during and after the change is implemented
  70. Have face-to-face interaction as often as possible


10 More Ways To Be An Effective Leader

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management, Team Building on July 5, 2010 at 3:07 pm

Here are 10 behaviors, techniques and tips you can use to be an effective leader:

  1. Respond to questions quickly and fully.
  2. Take an interest in your employees and their personal milestone events.
  3. Give feedback in a timely manner and make it individualized and specific.
  4. Be willing to change your decisions.
  5. End every meeting with a follow-up To Do list.
  6. Support mentoring — both informal and formal.
  7. Don’t delay tough decisions.
  8. Do annual written performance appraisals.
  9. Explain how a change will affect employee’s feelings before, during and after the change is implemented.
  10. Have face-to-face interaction as often as possible.


How To Be An Open Leader

In Customer Service, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Management on June 2, 2010 at 7:31 pm

Charlene Li, the author of the best-seller book, Groundswell, was kind enough to send me an advance copy of her newest book, Open Leadership, which she released for sale on May 24.

Li explains in her new book what it means to be an open leader and why having those skills and behaviors are vital for effectively communicating with customers and employees in today’s social media landscape.

My complete book review is on my Kansas City Leadership Examiner.com page.

But, here are some of the more compelling statements Li makes in her book, that I believe is a must read for leaders in large and small businesses and organizations:

• “Open leadership is about how leaders must let go to gain more.”

• “The more power you give away, the more power you ultimately have.”

• “Being open requires more — not less — rigor and effort than being in control.”

• “You need to seek out opportunities to be humbled each and every day — to be touched as much by the people who complain as by those who say ‘thank you.’”

When you read the book, allow for plenty of time to devote to the self-assessment tests and for making good use of Li’s recommended worksheets.   The test and discussion regarding authenticity and transparency are particularly important.


Team Sports Builds Leadership Skills

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management, Team Building on May 25, 2010 at 7:24 pm

Today’s high school and college team sport athletes are learning leadership skills that will serve them well when they enter the workforce.  Here’s some information about the research supporting the link between sports and leadership, along with some first-hand testimonials.


Be A Deveoping Leader

In Company Culture, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management on April 4, 2010 at 3:01 pm

One of my favorite lessons from the book, The DNA of Leadership, is the importance of being a developing leader.

Developing leaders:

  • Create the next generation of leaders
  • Are great listeners
  • Grow talent by challenging others to take on more than what they think they can do
  • Are open, honest and direct
  • Model the behavior they want to mentor for others

If you haven’t read Judith E. Glaser’s book, The DNA of Leadership, give it a read.  You won’t be disappointed.


This Month’s Poll

In Leadership Education, Leadership Training, Uncategorized on December 4, 2009 at 11:05 am

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