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As talk of the festive season and 2018 starts to become more common in your work and personal life, it’s a good idea to take stock of the progress you’ve made toward your various goals this year.

For many people, this can be a time for celebration and happy reflection. For others, this review period can be less pleasant. If you didn’t achieve all the goals that you set at the beginning of the year, you may feel like you have failed. No matter how many goals you have achieved, or what progress you may have made, now is the perfect time to recalibrate your thinking and address the year that was.

We generally think about goals in terms of completion. If something is left unfinished or unfulfilled, our self-esteem can take a hit, we can become disheartened and our motivation drops. If this thinking sounds familiar to you, it may be time to reframe how you view your own version of success.

If you’re stuck in the traditional end of year thinking pattern, try readjusting with the following:

Think About your Big ‘Wins’ of the Year

The best thing about adjusting your thinking from goals alone to include ‘wins’ is that the scope of achievement can be expanded to take in so many more moments of personal advancement that may have happened throughout your year. For example:

Did you develop your abilities as a leader?
Did you develop new abilities and skills?
Did you create or deepen new and exciting relationships?
Did you make progress in your own self-development?

Question Whether your Desires and Focus has Shifted

Life is dynamic and ever-changing. It is natural that within the time from January to now your primary focus and driving motivators may have changed. Acknowledge these potential changes and make time to determine your new focus and where the motivation behind it may lie.

Start thinking positively about 2018

After you have evaluated where your focus may be heading into the new year, sit down and review your long-term goals. Write down again the goals you are currently working on and add new ones for 2018.

Remember, to be the most effective goals need to be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible.

Look Ahead, Congratulate Yourself

Periodic review is essential to the process of growth and goal achievement. However, the key is to acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate what you did accomplish, and then to refocus on the goals that you still want to achieve. While this normally happens at the end of the year, it is always helpful to remember that time periods of achievement are different for everybody. Think positively about what you have achieved and look ahead to all you can possibly undertake in the New Year.

Better Leaders

Leading a Team Through Change

December 12, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

Transition times can be trying for any business. However, the more you wish to innovate and progress with the times, the greater the need to be able to skilfully guide your people through the difficulties that can come with change.

Ensuring that any developments align with your overall and individual goals, both short term and long term, is also essential to consider when implementing any changes across your organisation.

Here are our tips and guidance to help you as a leader positively transition through change, and lead your team to bigger and better things:

Everyone reacts to change differently. Make allowances for differences and questions

Depending on the type of personalities in your office, some of your team may take the intended changes very differently to others. While it is not your goal to change your employees, you need to be aware of how different team members will project their reservations upon others.

Remember, your team are not mind readers! Introduce the change to the group and give them the opportunity to ask questions in a comfortable and secure environment. Give them every opportunity to become comfortable with the intended changes in their own way.

Invite feedback

Don’t jump into making changes immediately after announcing the new direction. Launching immediately into action without gathering feedback will make your team feel more isolated from the changes happening around them. Instead, once you have announced the intention for a change of direction, invite your management team and informal leaders to work with smaller focus groups to determine where improvements can be best made, and how. Allow others to assist you to determine the next steps forward across a range of departments. You will be guaranteed to learn something, and you will be a better leader through the change for it.

Identify your change masters

After the change has been introduced and workshopped, you will be able to better identify who on your team will be your advocates or ‘change masters’. These are people on your team who will back your vision 100% and will do everything to try and implement it. They are normally followed and respected by their peers, and will assist in warming others to your lead. By letting these change masters to share the big visions you have for the future, you are creating more informed advocates who will continue to push developments along in a steady way.

Determine who is on board, then drive

At some point after the feedback and rallying stages, there is a moment when it will be time to kick the changes into gear. Disruption, if needed, for the good of the project and the company will be seen and embraced for the step forward it is, if handled in a way that involves group dynamics, feedback and recognition of personal impact. Know that others will come on board with the changes that are needed, and there will be no dramatic showdown or mass uproar.

Better Leaders, Good People Great

Are your Values Valuable?

December 12, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

What are your values? Before we can talk about specific values as they apply to your work or career, we first have to touch on what values are in general. They are the beliefs and ideas that are important to you and which you use to guide your everyday actions. Examples of what may constitute your Individual core values may be honesty, self-respect, work hard, and achievement.

These overarching principles are an important part of who you are and what paths you choose to follow. It’s important to understand what internal and external forces can be at play when it comes to the decisions we make, and why.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Values – What is the Difference?

We all have both intrinsic and extrinsic values that affect the choices we make. Intrinsic values have to do more with our internal motivations. Do you like helping others? Do you enjoy the work you do because it is challenging?

Extrinsic values are more concerned with the by-products a decision or action may have. They refer to what you get out of making a choice or decision – in other words, the external rewards. Will you earn more money? Will you be recognised by your peers? Will you be known as a valuable leader?

Identifying your Work Values

Ignoring your values, particularly when it comes to your work, will greatly diminish your chances of being satisfied with your career or job. As such, it is imperative that you identify them early on within your career to make sure that you get the most out of your working life.

One of the easiest ways to determine what your important work values are is to compile an inventory of work values and rank them in order of importance to you. By having this list ready and close to you, it allows you make informed decisions when it comes to your work choices and where they may lead you.

Some examples of value items that could appear on your inventory may be:

Independence: freedom to work and make decisions on your own
Relationships: positive working connections with co-workers
Support: having supportive management
Helping Others: assisting individuals or groups
Job Security: a high probability that one will remain employed
Collaboration: working creatively with others
Helping Society: contributing to the betterment of the world
Compensation: your pay rate
Leadership: managing others
Influence: affecting people’s opinions and ideas

Do any of these resonate with you? Write down your values and keep a note of when they change, when new values are added, and how the order of importance may shift.

Better Leaders

Is Your Communication Style Demotivating your Team?

December 11, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

Motivation can be a fragile thing. More often than not, it is easier to demotivate your team than it is to motivate them. Motivation is almost always intrinsic, and it originates from within an individual.

As opposed to always focusing on motivation, more effective leadership and management techniques may be those which serve to not demotivate those around you. Not being a demotivator is reliant on your own communication choices with your team.

A few key demotivators to avoid with your team would be:

Being Excessively Critical

Guidance and direction are one thing, criticism is another. Guidance points to success and development, while criticism highlights and publicises failure. While managers and leaders cannot simply ignore poor practices and procedures that may compromise performance, or productivity, there are ways to approach your team that will inspire internal motivation, rather than encourage demotivation.

The core objective as leaders and managers is to reach organisation’s goals in the most efficient and effective way possible. To do this, it requires an understanding that all available assets must be activated to perform at their best. If a team member is not performing at an appropriate level, it is your responsibility to do what has to be done to resolve the problem. If there is a demonstrated need for more training, provide it.

Excessive criticism may lead to team members who will actively work against the goals of the organisation and no amount of motivational techniques will creative internal drive.

Failing to Appreciate and Reward

Some of the most demanding challenges as a leader or manager arise when there is a need to balance what needs to get done, against what needs to be reflected upon and improved. In today’s numbers oriented world, it is easy for managers and leaders to focus on the numbers to the detriment of their people skills. When a person or department reaches or almost reaches targets, set time aside amongst the team to celebrate the achievement.

Appreciation doesn’t function merely in celebrating achievement, it has a much broader definition. Celebrating milestones demonstrates a regard for others and a respect for their energy and effort directed towards the goals of the organisation.

Ignoring Progress

Checkpoints are very important for goal setting. However, to be effective you must be faithful and diligent in your inspection and regulation of them. By ignoring progress within projects your team is involved with, you undermine their confidence and risk that key objectives will not be met when or how you wish them to be. Checkpoints provide the facts that you have to work with to improve. They tell you what, if anything needs to be corrected or modified.

Just as it is important to reward progress, it’s also equally important to note the direction and speed of work amongst your team to maintain peak productivity.

Is your communication style demotivating your team?

Better Leaders, Good People Great

Positional Leadership v Personal Leadership

November 8, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

If you walk into many organisations in most industries, you will likely encounter the staffing phenomenon of those in positional leadership roles, and those in personal or real authentic leader roles. What will often separate the more forward-thinking, aspirational and focused organisations from others is the ratio of real authentic leaders compared to the number of positional leaders.

What differentiates a positional leader and a personal leader?

Positional leaders operate from a traditional or formal understanding of power. Someone who holds a position of power, say a CEO, CFO or COO, can reasonably assume that a large amount of power is granted to them based on their title alone. Leaders who operate from a positional standpoint alone are often unable to look beyond the roles and responsibilities of the title to see how their performance, attitude and general behaviour affects others.

Authoritarian by nature, positional leaders often rely solely on their formally defined responsibilities to influence or coerce others to obey them. Unfortunately, those who operate using this type of leadership style have fundamentally misunderstood how great leaders work to secure and maintain the loyalty of those around them.

On the other hand, personal power comes from being someone worth following and looking to for direction. Authentic leaders or personal leaders operate far beyond the formal responsibilities of their position. Those who operate with a personal leadership mindset are more focused on organisational and business growth, motivation of those around them, and the overall engagement of the entire team.

While personal leadership also can involve positional leadership in times of trial, stress or necessity, it is not used as the defining factor for influencing others. Rather, a strong personal leader will be highly respected because of their ability to juggle responsibility, while also being able to be relied on by those around them.

Developing personal leadership qualities amongst those outstanding performers in your team is essential for your business to grow around the qualities of self-leadership, self-respect and self-management. Similarly, those who aspire to be leaders would be advised to invest in their own self-leadership, and develop their personal power, trusting that opportunities to influence others will surely come.

Remember, leadership is not necessarily about the title someone holds or the designation of duties. It is more about the impact, influence and inspiration that someone has over a group of people. More often than not, the real power of a position comes from more than just where they may sit within an organisational chart; it comes from how authentically they can hold a team together, generate enthusiasm in others, and make a genuine difference in an organisation.

Are you a good manager?

LMA’s complimentary and confidential DIY Leadership Management Competency Analysis can provide you detailed information on your leadership style.
Click here to start the Leadership Management Competency Analysis

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Soft Skills and Career Advancement

November 2, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

Even if you have a reputation as being the best at what you do, it will amount to little if you are unable to work well with others. According to recent research from the Deloitte Access Economics report, while the Australian workforce has a strong soft-skill base for now, the current rate of training around soft skills will not be enough to keep up with the demand for soft skills in the future.

What are soft skills? Unlike hard skills, which can be proven and measured, soft skills are intangible and can often be difficult to quantify. The report from Deloitte revealed the specific types of soft skills many employers will be looking for now and for years to come. These mainly included analytical thinking, verbal and written communication, and leadership.

With the demand for soft skills on the rise, it is important for everyone to consider how the focus on these often difficult to quantify skills will affect their career progression in the future.

One of the reasons that soft skills are now so revered is that they are the best tools to help facilitate better human connections, and therefore encourage closer and more productive working relationships between teams and colleagues. Critical soft skills for this development of positive interpersonal behaviour such as communication, presentation skills and conflict management abilities should be the focus of any training in the soft skills area. While these skills have been identified as essential for the future, often employees are seldom given the opportunity to develop these soft skills for their own benefit.

However, if you are given the opportunity to develop your soft skills through training and development, you will be taking advantage of improving a suite of skills that will steer you closer towards your larger career goals. Some of these key soft skills may be:

Honing of a more positive attitude – generation of strong, positive energy throughout a workplace encourages others to be optimistic and upbeat in the face of difficulties. The Performance Edge is a key course to cultivate an ‘Above the Line’ attitude in work and personal life.
Ability to work under pressure – the ability to still do your best work under pressure is an invaluable asset to yourself and others.
Better problem-solving skills – stronger problem-solving skills will allow you to become more resourceful in times of trial, thereby making you a better resource for others around you. Advanced problem solving skills are fundamental to being an effective manager, the Challenge of Leadership course delves into this in more detail.
Better flexibility/adaptability – the ability to adapt to changes and new situations is an invaluable skill now

Although soft skills can’t be ingrained in the same manner as hard or technical skills, the good news is that they can still be developed. To benefit from soft skills and develop a successful career, the foremost step for any professional is to develop their self-awareness regarding their own behaviour and gaps in their soft skills knowledge and practice. The ability to direct and fill in opportunity areas highly depends on career ownership and effective management of your own skill gaps, and understanding how these can be filled for your future benefit.

To start your people on the journey to better soft skills, both Thrive Alliance and LMA have a range of short to longer term courses that can help you to achieve your goals. For a course designed to develop the ‘total person’ through permanent behavioural change and a deeper development of soft skills, learn more about LMA’s The Performance Edge course. To learn more about how a better understanding of emotional intelligence in the workplace can assist your leaders and team members, visit Thrivealliance.com.au and view the available short courses here.

Better Leaders

Are You An Emotionally Intelligent Leader?

October 23, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

Great leadership and high emotional intelligence are highly-related. Developing your emotional intelligence will greatly benefit your career prospects, your ability to lead and your work/life balance.

Leaders who demonstrate a level of emotional intelligence are more likely to be successful in their roles, have stronger relationships with their team members and are able to resolve conflict-related issues that arise in any leadership position. While some roles such as Software Developer or Accountant may not have a lot of face-to-face interaction time, the behaviours that come with having a high level of emotional intelligence are absolutely vital to the success of a leader in any field.

So, what key behaviours do leaders who possess high levels of emotional intelligence exhibit that separates them from those who do not?

Leaders who are self-aware and self-regulate will be seen as reliable, resilient and trustworthy. Those who present themselves as such are more likely to gain the trust of those around them, encouraging a more open and honest working environment that benefits everyone.
Those leaders who are seen as self-motivated will inspire others to find their own internal motivators. By focusing on what makes them happy and content at work, leaders are opening up others to consider what individually inspires and motivates them in their own performance. Team members who are more self-motivated will be more likely to set goals, manage their own performance and direct their energy effectively into high pay-off activities (HPAs) that make them feel active and instrumental to the success of themselves and those around them.
Leaders who are empathetic and have highly-developed social skills foster a rapport with their team members as individuals with unique backgrounds, personalities and strengths. Leaders who are able to meaningfully connect with team members as individuals are also able to work through problems with team members as they arise. Work related or personal issues are not simply sidelined or ignored, instead leaders with high emotional intelligence are able to pre-empt the best course of action for those around them.

LMA’s associated company, Thrive More, currently offers three distinct Emotional Intelligence short courses that are specifically designed to improve your Emotional Intelligence quickly and effectively. Click here find out more or call .

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Introducing Emotional Intelligence Short Courses

October 10, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

We are very excited to announce our partnership with Genos International to deliver their Emotional Intelligence short courses and assessments through the Thrive More product range.

As a world leader in emotional intelligence assessment and programs that enhance self-awareness, empathy, leadership and resilience, Genos were the obvious choice provider to extend our offering in this exciting area.

In the modern workplace where change is constant, the benefits of Emotional Intelligence development occur within and outside of the workplace. When strong emotional intelligence is displayed relationships improve, stress is reduced, change occurs more efficiently and performance increases.

In the workplace, Emotional Intelligence is fundamental to strong self-awareness, empathy, leadership and resilience. People who work on developing their emotional intelligence feel better at work, facilitate a more productive work environment, and better lead and engage others.

To facilitate the development of emotionally intelligent behaviour our short courses provide cutting-edge content, assessments, frameworks and tools which transfer into real, practical behavioural changes that create lasting results.

Available as a half, one or two day course, in an Open environment with Participants from other organisations, or delivered in-house for a selection of your team members, our Emotional Intelligence short courses help participants explore and practice tools and techniques for applying emotional intelligence at work and outside of the workplace.

Click here for more information and upcoming open courses.

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End of Financial Year: Review, Plan, GO!

June 23, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

The end of financial year signifies more than just an opportunity to close off another official tax year; it presents the perfect opportunity to review the year that has been. Analysing the performances that got you there provides you with the opportunity to develop plans for further success in the next financial year.

In order to carry out an effective analysis of the previous year’s performance and results, you need to review your business performance against very clear measures; measures that give you an understanding of every relevant aspect of your business.

Review

Different businesses spend the lead up to June 30 in a variety of ways. However, there are some close to universal actions which all businesses can apply to successfully review the undertakings of the year and apply these finding towards analysis and planning for the future:

Review your actual business performance against your budgeted performance, including all your known variables. There is no better place to start to improve than by knowing exactly how well you did, according to how well you thought you would perform.
Review the key drivers of the business and compare how these may have changed according to the previous five years. Have you been doing something differently that may have spiked or slumped your performance this year?
Prepare a forecasted budget for the coming financial year, including your known variables as far ahead as you can see them. It’s impossible to predict the future, but you can forecast into the year by looking back on what you know has happened in the past.
Consider the current state of your business plan and strategy. Has the core nature of your business shifted, either slightly or dramatically? Are there gaps in the market you can take advantage of with a clearer business vision for the New Year?
Review your key staff and their performance. Your staff members are one of your most important assets. Are their performances in the expected range, or is extra training and support necessary to achieve your individual and collective goals? Review if you have been checking in with them regularly about their role, or decide whether you may need to review how you are tracking performance for the best information. This essential staff member review stage can be actioned through the engagement with The Performance Edge course, which will enhance existing capabilities of your high-performance team members as it focuses on crucial interpersonal and professional skills such as productivity, performance and personal leadership.

No one is capable of growth or improvement without self-reflection. Businesses are no different; they require constant maintenance and reflection to be able to plan for a better and brighter future.

Plan

Once you have reviewed the technical and operational aspects of your business leading up to the end of June, you can proceed to the planning stage.

Set your priorities

No matter what type of business owner you are, narrowing down your ideas from among all the worthwhile possibilities (whether it’s an opportunity to expand to a new market or choosing a better time management strategy), it can be difficult to focus on one thing at a time.

At the same time you review and update your business plan for the coming year, focus on what are the most important things for you to achieve this coming year. With your new priorities in mind, break them down into written goals, and then break them down again into smaller milestone tasks. By following this priority setting pattern you will maximise productivity, and enjoy the little successes that lead to big changes.

Think outside the box

Your priorities in the coming year may be to hit an ambitious revenue target, tap into a new market or relaunch your brand with a fresh new face.

Whatever they may be, an important thing to keep in mind, as you make plans to move your business forward is how you’ll stay relevant and engaging in an increasingly competitive market.

As part of your planning process, spend some time on market reconnaissance and research. Look back into previous SWOT analyses and see how you can plan new business moves that swing success in your favour. Understand what your unique selling position is and include it in as many plans as you can for your future moves.

GO!

At this stage you’ll be excited to get your ideas out there and enact all of your carefully considered plans. While you can do much as a one man band, you can’t do it all alone. Before you can really hit the ground running you will need to rally your team, no matter how large or small, to drive the best performance you can into this coming year.

How are you managing motivation in your business?

Motivating staff at any time throughout the year is a bit of a management art. However, the EOFY time is a perfect one to check in with what is driving your staff members to perform in the roles, and see how your new plans for the year can fit into their own individual goals.

Have one-on-one meetings with all of your staff to communicate any new points of direction with them that may be happening in the business, as a result of your reviewing and planning stages
Provide an opportunity for staff members to express their concerns and ideas coming into the New Year
Determine what are the internal drivers of each of your staff members and allocate new or changed tasks from your review process, to better suit team members’ different strengths and interests

By properly reviewing the year that has been, planning ahead with priorities and focus, and engaging your team in your plans for the future, you will truly be ready to hit the ground sprinting towards your goals for your business.

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Get the most out of your people

June 23, 2017 LMA1 Leave a comment

In a time where a business can thrive or falter depending on a few vital decisions, it is important to be aware of what proactive moves you can make to stay ahead of your competition.

To remain competitive, a business must continually search for ways to improve it’s overall bottom line. Most companies aim to improve their position through two simultaneous methods; growing revenues and increasing efficiencies.

What many people don’t see is that the people you have working with you are the common thread that links these two methods.

When your people are performing at their highest level, they are working to achieve both the aims of increasing revenue and increasing efficiencies. Your people are your brand, your reputation, your networks and the future of your business. Luckily, if you invest in their skills and future you will also be investing in the continued success of your business.

LMA’s The Performance Edge (TPE) course is the ideal way to invest in the essential skills your people require to perform at their very best. The TPE course will enlarge the already existing capabilities of your high-performing team members, while opening them to new possibilities in their own performance, both in their professional and personal lives.

With a unique focus on The Total Person® Concept, the TPE course allows participants to achieve results in all areas of their lives. Previous participants of LMA’s TPE course have said they felt happier, less stressed and achieved a healthy work/life balance as a result of their engagement with the course. All have noted the considerable ROI that comes as a result of the TPE, with many gaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in measurable productivity improvements per year.

The TPE successfully brings out the best in your people by focusing on essential interpersonal and professional skills such as:

Productivity and Performance
Organisational Skills
Communication
Team Development
Personal Leadership

By helping your people focus on these key areas, you can experience a Slight Edge – oftentimes that small difference in performance that makes all the difference in results.

A proactive business is a business that has that Slight Edge. A proactive business is one that knows that it’s employees are it’s greatest assets and that they can generate this Slight Edge.

The TPE course is one that works to improve the existing skills of your team members, while also ensuring they are prepared to take on any future challenges.

Knowing that you value the improvement of your bottom line and the continued security of your organisation’s future, you might consider the TPE course as an ideal investment for you and your team members.

Gain that Slight Edge – check out the TPE here.