Category: Executive Coaching

Lead By Leaving: Why Taking a Vacation Could Help Your Office photo Shannon Cassidy

Lead By Leaving: Why Taking a Vacation Could Help Your Office

Shannon Cassidy 1 Comment

When was the last time you took a vacation? If you’re like many American business leaders, it’s been awhile since you stepped away from the office. In fact, across all levels, most American employees don’t take many vacations compared to the rest of the world. This isn’t necessarily a good trend, though. If you’re a business leader in the U.S., it’s time to reconsider the role of vacation and begin realizing the importance of relaxation. Here’s why, along with how you can help.

The “No-Vacation Nation”

The Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) published a study in May 2013 with a provoking title: “No-Vacation Nation Revisited.” The study looked at legally mandated vacation and holidays in 21 developed countries. If you can’t guess what country had the lowest levels government-required paid time off, pull out your own benefits package.

The United States stood alone among the 21 countries surveyed, as the only one that had no legally mandated paid leave or paid holidays. The next-closest country to the U.S. was Japan, which requires employers to provide 10 days of paid leave each year.

On the other end of the spectrum, Austria provided employees with the most paid time off. Austrians receive 25 days of paid leave and 13 paid holidays annually; overnight workers and employees with more than 25 years of experience are awarded additional time off. While Austria was the most generous, its benefits are not extreme outliers:

  • France requires 30 days of paid vacation and one paid holiday
  • The United Kingdom offers 28 days of paid vacation (but no paid holidays)
  • Portugal provides 22 days of paid vacation and 13 paid holidays

Admittedly, these numbers only include paid time off that employers are legally required to provide. Many companies in the U.S. provide paid vacation, sick days, personal days and holidays. The CEPR’s study found that the average American worker receives 16 paid days off each year. This still ranks the U.S. among the lowest of the developed countries surveyed in paid time off, though.

The Country of Workaholics

The lack of vacation time in the U.S. reflects a culture that praises productivity, and this can be seen in how employees use (or don’t use) their vacation time. Citing an Oxford Economics study, CNBC reports that Americans only use 77 percent of the paid time off that they’re eligible for. CNBC doesn’t detail why employees don’t use all of their vacation time, but it’s not hard to imagine the reasons. Employees are often:

  • concerned that work will pile up while they’re gone
  • already overwhelmed with their workload
  • determined to show dedication to their employer
  • worried about their performance reviews
  • inundated with work-related texts and emails, even when not at the office

In short, employees in the U.S. are workaholics. They value productivity (or at least the illusion of it, even if they aren’t actually getting much done). As Joe Robinson of Work to Live argues, “the only thing that matters is performance and output.” If you doubt this, review when you last took that vacation, and then look at when your employees last used their paid time off.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

The law of diminishing returns, however, dictates that as people work more, the return on their efforts decreases. In other words, forgoing vacations is actually detrimental to productivity. As USA Today explains, vacations have several benefits for employees and employers. They:

  • restore health, which reduces the likelihood that employees will need to call in sick
  • refresh creativity and innovation, giving employees the freedom to approach problems in new ways
  • improve productivity, providing an economic net gain for employers

It may be counterintuitive, but taking vacations is actually good for you, your employees, your company and the U.S.’s economy.

Taking vacations is actually good for you, your employees, and your company.
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Your Role in The Solution

As a business leader, you have an important role in promoting paid time off among U.S. employers.

First, depending on your role, you may be in a position to provide employees with more paid time off. If so, then argue for additional vacation days, personal days, holidays and sick days.

Second, you owe it to yourself and your company to take time off. If you’re a high-level executive and need to be available, take your phone with you on a trip. If you’re concerned about how taking your allotted time off will impact your review, discuss it with your supervisor and detail how your productivity increased afterwards. (You might save a large project for when you get back.) Whatever it takes, make vacation a priority and find a way to use your time off.

Third, encourage those under you to do the same. Whenever possible, honor requests for time off. It will improve morale and satisfaction, not to mention productivity.

If you haven’t taken a vacation in a long time, schedule one now. It will help you, and it’s an important step towards turning the “no-vacation nation” into a nation of healthy, creative and productive employees.

Make Feedback a Vital Tool for Your Team Members photo Shannon Cassidy

Make Feedback a Vital Tool for Your Team Members

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams implied that great leaders strive to make each of their team members better at what they do. This does not happen by magical words or project osmosis. It happens through feedback. As such, a great leader spends time learning how to give feedback that is effective. To give feedback well requires specific planning, tactful execution and purposeful follow-up.

A great leader spends time learning how to give feedback that is effective.
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Specific Planning

Before the feedback meeting, ask and answer these questions:

What is my intention? While thinking through this, you may discover that you want your employee to feel bad and guilty. If that is your aim, the results of your meeting may be dismissal of the employee or them quitting. Instead, take time to establish exactly what your intention is for your meeting.

What impact do I want to have on my team member? Think about this and again, be specific. Do you want your employee to improve because of this interaction? Or do you want them to feel they were wrong? Your attitude about intentions and impact will influence the way you talk to your employee as well as the result of the meeting.

What exactly am I going to say? Plan your words. Write them down. Have notes with you that back up the points you want to make. If your communication is clear and to the point, your team member will not leave with any misunderstanding of what you expect in the future.

Tactful Execution

During the feedback meeting, make sure you:

Use many more positive comments than negative. You want to encourage your employee to grow and improve. To ensure that result, intentionally use positive statements about their work more than negative. It is impossible to have a fair review of someone’s performance without stating an area for improvement so they know what to focus on in cultivating the right kinds of skills. If those comments are sandwiched between other positive reinforcements, your employee will be more motivated to improve.

Be specific. Don’t speak in generalities. Instead, give specific examples. Refrain from using the words “never” or “always”. Don’t tell someone they are late in turning in assignments. Instead, give a specific instance. The same goes for praise. Don’t tell your team member they are encouraging to the team effort. Give a specific example of when they were encouraging.

Tie Actions to Consequences. Recently, Andrew Parker, director of marketing and communications for Zenger Folkman, gave an excellent example of how to tie actions to consequences during feedback. He writes:

When delivering tough feedback, many folks don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. The best way to do this is to review how their actions led to a specific consequence and not insult their intelligence, competence or otherwise. Case in point: I had a boss tell me one time that because I had failed to review my work with him before sending it on to a client, I provided something substandard and the client was displeased with our work. He never called me dumb, stupid or clueless. He demonstrated how my actions had led to this outcome. Then, he followed up with several kind comments about things I was doing well and that I need to work in this one area to improve. After that, I never had a problem—and I never felt bitter to my boss about that conversation.

Making the connection between actions and consequences can help your employee improve in their job and give you a specific and non-threatening way to convey areas where they need improving.

Purposeful Follow-Up

End your feedback meeting with a plan of action. Ask your employee to come up with ideas for his improvement in a given area. In your plan of action, have your employee do a few specific tasks in a specific amount of time. Following up in this way will ensure that the feedback you gave has not fallen on deaf ears.

Feedback can be a vital tool for you as a leader. Learn how to give it well and inspire your team members to dream, learn, do and become more.

Feedback can be a vital tool for you as a leader.
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Sources:

http://zengerfolkman.com/5-tips-for-delivering-tough-feedback-in-a-touchy-feely-world/

http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2012/06/07/giving-feedback-dont-make-these-10-mistakes/

https://hbr.org/2015/08/how-to-give-tough-feedback-that-helps-people-grow

 

 

 

Persistence—A Vital Quality for these Four Great Women Leaders photo Shannon Cassidy

Persistence—A Vital Quality for These Four Great Women Leaders

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

One is a leader in writing and she created a dynasty of stories that would affect an entire generation’s imagination. How did she do this? Persistence.

One was a leader in a southern state’s congress, a black woman who stood up to be the first of many in a line of powerful women politicians. How did she do this? Persistence.

One is a leader in the arts who faced rejection in a business where looks are valued more than talent. She kept going. How did she do this? Persistence.

One is a leader in the world of business who has faced trials and grief and yet continued to stand up for women in the workplace. How did she do this? Persistence.

J.K. Rowling

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” J.K Rowling

J.K.Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter novels, was a single mother enduring clinical depression when she wrote the first book of the Harry Potter series. She was on welfare and submitted her manuscript to twelve different publishing houses but was rejected by all of them. A year later a small London-based publishing company agreed to publish Harry Potter. Persistence brought us delightful stories that have made many, many people happy.

Barbara Jordan

“One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.” Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan won a seat in the Texas legislature in 1966, becoming the first black woman to do so. She faced negative attitudes and discrimination at first. Her colleagues were not welcoming. But she continued and sought to improve the lives of her constituents by helping pass the state’s first law on minimum wage. Later, she worked to create the Texas Fair Employment. In 1972, eight years after her joining the legislature, her fellow lawmakers voted her in as president pro tempore of the state senate, becoming the first African American woman to hold this post. Persistence gave us a woman who was willing to be ostracized in order to do what was right. She set an example for all women.

Meryl Streep

“Integrate what you believe in every single area of your life. Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody else, too.” Meryl Streep

In 1975, Dino De Laurentis, producer of the upcoming movie King Kong, sat waiting to watch auditions for the female lead. Meryl Streep, then a little known actress, walked in. The director said to his son in Italian, “Why did you bring me this ugly thing?” Streep knew Italian and was taken aback. She walked out mumbling, “I’m what you got.” Looking back, Meryl wrote, “This was a pivotal moment for me. This one rogue opinion could have derailed my dreams of becoming an actress.”

It didn’t. Streep kept going and is now the most successful actress in America. Persistence gave us many wonderful experiences in the world of movies including The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer and The Devil Wore Prada.

Sheryl Sandberg

“Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place.” Sheryl Sandberg

As Chief Operating Office of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg has made a career of persistently leading companies and standing up for women’s rights in the workplace. Some might look at her life and say she is not in touch with the regular woman.

However, in a Forbes article critiquing Sandberg’s book Lean in, Susan Adams writes: “In the book’s opening anecdote, Sandberg describes what a tough time she had while pregnant with her first child. She gained 70 pounds, her feet swelled two shoe sizes and she vomited every day for nine months. I read this and I thought immediately, she gets it.”

Sandberg became the first woman to serve on Facebook’s board in 2012. In the same year she was named one of the most 100 influential people in the world according to Time magazine. Her humility is a part of her determination to fight for other women. “We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us, women who had to fight for the rights that we now take for granted,” she writes. Persistence gave us a business woman who leads by example and is making strides for other women in business.

If you are a woman in business, be persistent. Women before you have faced obstacles in the workplace and kept going. Do the same and influence the women who will follow you.

If you are a woman in business, be persistent.
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Sources:

http://beingencouraged.com/2013/10/25/need-persist-4-famous-examples-persistence/

http://www.emlii.com/9146884/31-Most-Inspiring-Women-Who-Changed-The-World

http://www.6seconds.org/2013/03/13/famous-failures-persistence/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/03/04/10-things-sheryl-sandberg-gets-exactly-right-in-lean-in/

 

7 Tips to Establish a Professional Presence photo

7 Tips to Establish Professional Presence

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

We live in a society where “Casual Friday” has morphed into Casual Everyday. Some companies have even begun a “Formal Friday” to target dressing professionally. As our workplaces become more casual, is our behavior following suit?

Professional presence is vital to any company getting and keeping clients. Having a professional presence can help you stand out in the crowd of emails, voicemails, business meetings and social occasions.

Poise, self-confidence and self-control make up professional presence. Follow these seven tips to establishing a professional presence:

1.Be Positive

A positive workplace increases productivity. Everyone has bad days, but taking it out on anyone at the office—be it your coworker or a customer—will produce negative responses and results. The first step to having a professional presence is to be optimistic.

2. Be on Time

Being late communicates that your time is more important than someone else’s. Everyone is busy. Punctuality is vital to a professional presence. And if you are late, blaming the traffic, your family or your car is simply making an excuse. Apologize sincerely without excuses if you are late. Being professional means being on time.

3. Get Names Straight

If you can remember someone’s name after only meeting them once, you will make a great impression. However, few of us have that talent. It is much better to say “Please tell me your name again” than to guess and call your potential client or coworker the wrong name. Calling someone by their name is courteous and professional. When sending an email, spell the name correctly.

4. Make Clients Feel Valued

Having a professional presence includes developing the ability to make others feel valued. Using the correct name is the first step. Asking your client questions communicates that you care. Everyone enjoys talking about themselves. Listen and repeat back little bits of the information they give you. And always include a smile in your conversation. When people feel valued, they are more likely to trust you and come back again.

5. Create Well-Written Communication

There is no excuse for sloppy emails or badly written business letters in a professional environment. Have someone edit written communication before it leaves your business. Spelling mistakes can be a strike against your professional presence. Avoid bad grammar. Create professional letterhead. Design a standard and clean signature for office emails. An impression will be established through your written communication. It is up to you if it will be negative or positive.

6. Use Etiquette and Skill on Phone Calls

Speak slowly and clearly. Put energy and a smile into your voice so that the warmth of it will be communicated. Be prepared by having whatever information you might need close to you. Think about what you are going to say before calling anyone. A brief and business-like phone call projects a professional presence. Finally, close your call as professionally as you began. Wait until they hang up before you do.

7. Dress Appropriately and Groom Well

Even though many companies are much more casual than they used to be, make sure you are following the dress code appropriately. Ask the human resources team for clarification if needed. Being fashionable at work does not always make for a professional presence. Being well groomed does. Good taste and fashion are not always synonymous. Follow the rules carefully.

 

A professional presence is one that exudes confidence. By following these seven tips, you can establish yourself as one who takes care of others and themselves in order to create a workplace environment that propels the company to success. Whether your company has Casual Friday or Formal Friday, work to make a professional presence every day.

 

Resources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-etiquette-commandments-idUSTRE81C10F20120213

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-People-Feel-Good

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/486/Increase-your-professional-presence-on-the-phone.html

To add exceptional team members, ask great interview questions

To Add Exceptional Team Members, Ask Great Interview Questions

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

You’ve pored over dozens of resumes, scoured social media accounts and, finally, narrowed the field to just a few candidates for an important open position in your company. Next comes the most critical step in the process: the interviews.

Managers and human resources professionals can only tell so much about candidates by reviewing their credentials. Candidates who look great “on paper” can turn out in real life to be a poor fit for your company, and interviews provide the all-important face time.

The in-person interviews with your top candidates provide you with important visual cues about how an individual may perform. How is the candidate dressed? Does she seem nervous or evasive? How does he interact with your team? When you’ve identified several candidates with similar skills, education and work experience, the interview can provide important missing information you need to make a final selection.

With interviews carrying so much weight in the hiring process, it’s critical to ask compelling questions that get your candidates talking openly. As Entrepreneur notes, asking the right questions can help you identify individuals with high levels of emotional intelligence, which includes traits like self-control, persistence and the ability to get along with others. Employees with high EI are said to be able to adjust better to change, to be flexible and to work as part of teams.

Here are eight of the top questions that encourage your candidates to provide honest, open answers that can help you predict future success.

Envision that it’s a year from now; what has our team achieved?

This question gives the candidate a chance to express her strategic vision and knowledge of your company. A thoughtful answer demonstrates that she’s taken the time to learn about your challenges and to brainstorm solutions.

Who do you consider a role model, and why?

Choice of role model can tell you a lot about your candidate’s level of introspection, and it can potentially give you an idea about what behaviors to expect, as Inc. notes. It also reveals the character and attributes your candidate wishes to emulate.

If you launched a new business, what would you want to be its three top values?

This question provides you with insights into a candidate’s priorities, notes Entrepreneur. Understanding that candidates may be surprisingly candid in interviews, you want to hear answers like “trust,” “integrity,” “empathy” and “fair play.” Values that wouldn’t be a fit with your corporate culture and ethics should give you pause.

What aspects of your past jobs have you not enjoyed?

All candidates expect to be asked about their strengths and weaknesses. But asking specifically about parts of their current or previous jobs that they didn’t like can result in honest answers. No one enjoys everything about any job, despite what applicants will say in interviews. Understanding your candidate’s likes and dislikes will help you determine if the individual will be a good fit for your specific job opening.

Tell me about a lasting friendship you’ve developed in a job

Building relationships only happens over time and with sustained effort, and it is a marker for high emotional intelligence. With this question, you learn how much your candidate values other employees as people, and it can give you an idea of your candidate’s level of commitment to team members.

What skill or expertise should you develop?

No one has mastered every possible skill, and you want to hear that your candidate is curious and has a desire to continue learning and improving in his field. If an individual doesn’t have an answer, you can take it as a sign that he doesn’t feel he has anything left to learn.

Describe a time in a job when things didn’t go the way you’d hoped

By asking about something that didn’t go well, you can gather information about your candidate’s tendencies as a self-starter and whether she views challenges as permanent setbacks or opportunities for growth. You also may learn whether your candidate is a team player or would point a finger of blame at colleagues.

What are your questions for me?

Providing your candidate with an opportunity to ask you questions can tell you how much she prepared in advance or how well she thinks on her feet. It also can give you an idea of the innovative — or potentially disruptive — ideas your new employee will bring to the table.

To uncover valuable information, ask the right interview questions

Few decisions are as important to your organization as the employees you hire. By asking compelling, open-ended questions, you can uncover your candidates’ emotional intelligence levels and improve your chances of adding strong team members.