Creating Your Vision

Creating Your Vision

Vision

• The act or power of seeing with the eye or in your imagination
• The ability to perceive something not actually visible
• Something seen that is a force or power of the imagination

Empower

• Give someone the authority or power to do something.
• Enable someone to do something.
• Make someone stronger and more confident.

When you take a step back, whether it is at a new job or a job you have been at awhile, what is your vision for your area of responsibility?  It is yours to shape.  What are your priorities and goals?  What is your plan for the next two to three weeks?  How is your team doing?  What do the stats say about your performance?  What are the immediate things that you should be focusing on?  How are you going to get better as a leader?  What could your location accomplish if you removed some of the barriers to success?

1. Vision.  What do you see as the next big steps?  How could the environment, resources, the employees, the team, the customer service be at its best?  What would it take to make that leap?

• Challenge. Help your team members believe ‘we can do anything’.  Use every means of communicating your compelling vision.  Enlist management to help you tell the whole story and talk about the goals.

• Open Up.  Don’t hold anything back.  What is known about empowerment and engagement is that the more employees know about where you are, where you are going, and are involved in how to get there, the more they will help you carry out the plan.

• Question. Ask questions. Talk to your team members, your customers, your peers, and your boss.  Make your own observations as objectively as you can.  Put the information all together and see what picture it is painting.  What do you need to hold on to?  What do you need to act on?

• Defend.  Once you have decided upon a plan of action, the image you will project, rules for behavior, hold on to your reputation and high levels of expectation.  Involve everyone in holding each other accountable for the standards agreed upon.

• Empower.  Freedom creates discipline.  Create an atmosphere that allows people to use their brains, their strengths, and their personalities to engage with customers, to solve problems, and to get the job done in an excellent way.  You will be surprised that the more freedom you give, the more involved your team will be.  There will occasionally be an exception and you will coach and redirect to get them on track.  If not, you will invite that person to find their place elsewhere.

• Learn.  Continue to be open to learning and revisioning.  Take time for reflection periodically. Respect the journey.  Understand that the concept is continuous improvement but remember to celebrate the milestones.

• Decide.  Take some time to think about what kind of leader you want to be.  What style of leadership is most natural to you?  What style of leadership fits the different scenarios you find yourself in.

Quotes from, author of “It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy” -D. Michael Abrashoff,

“Previously, people were fighting to get off the ship.  Now they were fighting to stay aboard.  That kind of desire translates to performance.”

“The winning leader’s first principle is ‘Optimism rules.  And the corollary is ‘Opportunities never cease’.  The bottom line: It’s your ship.  Make it the best.”

“Decide your ship will be the best.  Repeat it to yourself and the team often. Eventually you both will believe it.  Sure, it is corny, but it works.  Confidence is infectious.”

“Confidence makes the difference.  Give someone a very special gift.  Build up their confidence, the confidence to succeed, by believing in them and their ability.”

Watch this video: “Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They’re In” by Simon Sinek

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The Who, What, Why, and How of Personality Assessments

I am a big fan of personality assessments used in the workplace or for any type of teambuilding.  We use this tool often in our work. Besides being plain ol’ fun, it provides individuals, teammates, and supervisors insight they would not otherwise have.

 

Who?

The assessment can be used for individual employees, teams, boards, groups or even families.

 

What?

A personality profile describes who you are as a unique person. The assessment we have chosen to use is the Workplace Big Five. It provides general information (see two sample assessments below) about each person who completes the assessment questionnaire based on 5 essential personality characteristics.  Each individual will get scores in the following categories:

• Need for Stability
• Extraversion
• Originality
• Accommodation
• Consolidation

The assessment only takes 15 minutes, but, if the individual doesn’t overthink their responses and goes with their first response, reveals much. We learn, among many other things:

• How they respond to stress.
• Whether they are stimulated by people and activity or not.
• Whether they are open to change or prefer the status quo.
• How they respond to authority.
• How much they plan.
• How each of these characteristics interacts with the other.

 

Why?

The purpose of completing the assessment can be multi-fold or for one aim:

• Selection
• Promotion
• Validation
• Development
• Conflict resolution
• Collaboration

It is always helpful for each individual who participates to become more self-aware of his/her personality, individuality, competencies and motivations. There are no good or bad scores. The results help the individual explore their unique personality styles, how their personality exhibits itself in the workplace, and how it helps them relate to team members.

In a group setting, it is so freeing to see how you are alike and different from your teammates. If someone discovers she has a low ‘warmth’ score, she might become more conscious of how this effects her encounters with others. Conversely, there are ah-ha moments such as “Oh, ______ is not acting like that to get under my skin, that is just who she is.”

The estimate is that 60% of your personality is based on who you were at birth (nature), while 40% is based on what has occurred since then (nurture). The old adage, “A tiger can’t change its stripes” comes to mind. Did you know that under the tiger’s fur, the skin is also striped? The interpretation is that we can’t change our essential nature. We are who we are down to the skin. Nonetheless, being self-aware can make all the difference in the world.

 

How?

If you would like to learn more about assessments and how they can be used with coaching or teaching, we would love to hear from you anytime!

BRH

 

Powers & Associates is certified to assess the The WorkPlace Big Five by:

WorkPlace Big Five Assessment Samples

See a sample trait report here:  Trait Report

See a sample narrator report here:   Narrator Report

 

Going Beyond the List: The Whys of a Great Workplace

We see the articles and lists all of the time.  16 Companies to Work for in 2016. Best Places to Work and Why.  Top Ten Companies for Employees.  Being a professional who works to help companies and their cultures every day, I know that the impact of these types of articles is not really about the companies in the list. Unless you happen to be one of the ten companies mentioned, WHO is mentioned is not important at all.  What’s key is WHY they are listed?

I recently came across an article in FastCompany Magazine by Lydia Dishman titled “These Were The Best Places to Work in the U.S. This Year.”  When I took the time to reflect on the best places I have worked or been associated with, the companies are all very similar to the litany of high-profile companies in the article.  The message can easily be adapted into a small to medium-sized business, a fast-growing or established one, as long as you are willing to open your mind and listen to your employees.  I made a list of 11 points that are a part of every successful and dynamic company I have worked with, then compared it to the FastCompany article.  Surprise!  They were very similar.