Contagious Commentary by Monica Wofford

Archive for the ‘Contagious Communication’ Category

Do you communicate in a way that helps other want to follow your leadership?

Leadership communication can make or break a team and their performance. How do YOU communicate your direction, guidance, and vision in a way that causes them to listen and want to follow? Here are three ways to do just that:

Share Your Expectations

What do you want those team members you lead to do exactly? What do you want them to do differently, say differently, see differently, or believe differently than what you are currently seeing or experiencing? Those two questions will help you clarify the message you share with employees. IF you don’t know the answers to those two questions, your directions sound a bit like “Well, just do better” and we both know your definition of better may not match their definition. Be concise, clear, and specific as you can when sharing your expectations. Employees who know how to perform in the way that gets them recognition or praise for a job well done are far more motivated to do so.

Ask For Input, Help and Questions

Once you’ve shared your expectations of employee performance, or while you are sharing them, ask those you lead for their input. In Contagious Leadership, it’s described in Chapter 4 Leaders Ask for Help from Those They Lead, as They are Often Closer to the Problem Than the Leader. What can those team members help you understand, figure out, or create solutions for that might even be better than what you’re asking them to do? Are you telling them what to do or engaging them in the process of finding a solution? If your leadership communication includes asking questions, asking for help, and involving them in the solution, you’ll have team members who work with you for the improved performance of the entire team.

Have a CHAT with Those Off Track

Some time ago, I posted a formula for coaching conversations in which leaders can communicate a request for commitment of changed behavior and then thank the employee for that commitment. The CHAT Model works well for those who are off track and allows you to communicate what you’d like to see done differently while also gaining buy in from that team member. In all communication, disciplinary or otherwise, sharing a clear message of expectations and seeking buy in will help others want to follow your lead.

Need more?

Communication is a detailed topic and often it is what stands between our perception of seeing a star employee or a poor performer. As a leader we have a responsibility to communicate in a way they understand, communicate when they are off track, and clearly communicate what we want from that employee. Without those key elements of communication, we might mistakenly perceive someone as difficult. If you have a multitude of difficult employees or people you work with, it might be a result of your communication. Join us at the next Contagious Conference on Dealing with Difficult People to learn the secrets to more effective communication that might just make all those difficult people disappear! Learn more…

Whether you’re able to join us in April or just have time for a quick read, these steps will help you communicate more effectively and will enhance how you are perceived and how you perform as a leader. How else might you recommend improving one’s leadership communication?

Leadership communication can make or break a team and their performance. How do YOU communicate your direction, guidance, and vision in a way that causes them to listen and want to follow? Here are three ways to do just that:

Share Your Expectations

What do you want those team members you lead to do exactly? What do you want them to do differently, say differently, see differently, or believe differently than what you are currently seeing or experiencing? Those two questions will help you clarify the message you share with employees. IF you don’t know the answers to those two questions, your directions sound a bit like “Well, just do better” and we both know your definition of better may not match their definition. Be concise, clear, and specific as you can when sharing your expectations. Employees who know how to perform in the way that gets them recognition or praise for a job well done are far more motivated to do so.

Ask For Input, Help and Questions

Once you’ve shared your expectations of employee performance, or while you are sharing them, ask those you lead for their input. In Contagious Leadership, it’s described in Chapter 4(link to: http://www.contagiouscompanies.com/storebooks.aspx#start) Leaders Ask for Help from Those They Lead, as They are Often Closer to the Problem Than the Leader. What can those team members help you understand, figure out, or create solutions for that might even be better than what you’re asking them to do? Are you telling them what to do or engaging them in the process of finding a solution? If your leadership communication includes asking questions, asking for help, and involving them in the solution, you’ll have team members who work with you for the improved performance of the entire team.

Have a CHAT with Those Off Track

Some time ago, I posted a formula for coaching conversations in which leaders can communicate a request for commitment of changed behavior and then thank the employee for that commitment. The CHAT Model (link this to that old post)works well for those who are off track and allows you to communicate what you’d like to see done differently while also gaining buy in from that team member. In all communication, disciplinary or otherwise, sharing a clear message of expectations and seeking buy in will help others want to follow your lead.

Need more?

Communication is a detailed topic and often it is what stands between our perception of seeing a star employee or a poor performer. As a leader we have a responsibility to communicate in a way they understand, communicate when they are off track, and clearly communicate what we want from that employee. Without those key elements of communication, we might mistakenly perceive someone as difficult. If you have a multitude of difficult employees or people you work with, it might be a result of your communication. Join us at the next Contagious Conference on Dealing with Difficult People to learn the secrets to more effective communication that might just make all those difficult people disappear! J Learn more…  (link to upcoming conferences page)

Whether you’re able to join us in April or just have time for a quick read, these steps will help you communicate more effectively and will enhance how you are perceived and how you perform as a leader. How else might you recommend improving one’s leadership communication?  

Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:45 — 4.4MB)

Why is that we spend more time with our poor performers than our star performers? Are we operating off the adage “if it ain’t broken, why fix it” or are we forgetting “people do what they get paid attention to for doing”?

Star performers are usually highly internally motivated and complain the most about things like paperwork, administrative follow up and slow systems that get in their way. How can you as the leader, stay out of the way of the star performer and make sure that they continue to get what they need to thrive and grow? Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:15 — 4.8MB)

Ever goofed? Sure you have, but what did you do after?

Does making a mistake make you difficult? Well, heck I hope not. I make them all the time. What can make you appear difficult is messing up and then covering up, so let’s look at how you can be a leader, make a mistake, recover, and make progress… not to mention save a little face.

With Make Difficult People Disappear coming out soon, it seems we’re awfully focused on this issue of difficult people lately, however, the more I think about it, it’s a rampant problem. There are some who seem to “see difficult people” instead of “dead people” from the movies, all over the place. This might even be the case in your office and if so, some of it may be derived from how you recover from your blunders. Here are a few ways to do it with grace and saving face. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever gotten frustrated with someone about a phone bill, credit card statement, or other inquiry for which you had to call customer service? Ever been that person that you know YOU’D call difficult if the roles were reversed? Well, if you were lucky the rep you spoke with acted polite and patient…because here’s the list of the top ten things they would have LIKED to have said to you… Read the rest of this entry »

Join me, April 24th!

Do the difficult people you lead or work with get worse or better when you deal with them in some way? It sure seems like they should improve, but there’s this old adage that stands out in my mind that makes me think the answer to that question might be different than we both want to believe. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:30 — 5.0MB)

The truth? Leaders are often part of the difficulty when they fail to effectively deal with difficult people. If you take a look at the offerings of most public seminar companies or corporate training firms, it’s a near guarantee that Dealing with Difficult People will be listed in their catalog because leaders often outsource this solution when they don’t know how to resolve the problem internally. Now there’s nothing wrong with Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:00 — 6.4MB)

How do you stay connected to people, opportunities and potential?

Have you ever met someone and just clicked with them? It’s that kind of connection where you meet and you just latch on to each other and talk or chat like you’ve known each other for ten years? It’s a great feeling, yes? But have you also had the opposite experience where you meet someone and for some reason you just back away…feeling or thinking this might not be the kind of connection you want to create? It happens, too! So, how in this new year do you purposely connect with more people or opportunities that will get you closer to feeling of that WOW? Read the rest of this entry »