Working Resources for Leadership - Bay Area Executive Coaching

How to Keep an Employee Engaged: Do You Care Enough to Keep the Very Best?

Last night we went out to a Valentine's Day dinner at a French Bistro restaurant in our home town in Northern California. The food was very good other than our son not liking the anchovies in his Cesar salad!  My wife and I commented that there seemed to be something missing.

The waiter didn't engage you and seemed to be emotionally distant. The service was good, but no real effort was made to connect with us. It seemed so different than the Italian restaurants we love.

So what was the difference? My wife commented that you don't hear much about the French Bistro.
The food was excellent, but we probably wouldn't spread the word. Why? Because we didn't feel cared about as customers.

Perhaps the owner of the Bistro could have a conversation with the waiter about the apparent disconnection with customers. The feedback given in a caring way could be pivotal to everyone's success.

Do you create a remarkable experience for your customers where they are happy to spread the word? It doesn't take a marketing budget, rather a mindset of building relationships.

Spouse Advise: Spouse as Trusted Advisor to Executives

The spouses of our US presidential political candidates are becoming key players in the election. They often act as unofficial trusted advisor's to their spouse. Business leaders also may confer with their spouses before making key hiring decisions or executing a new strategy.

I often ask my wife who has a background in sales and marketing and event planning for advise on a number of work-related issues.  I am frequently interviewed by the media as a workplace expert on difficult issues at work and I'm always curious to get my wife's opinion on the matter. For example: I was recently interviewed in The Wall Street Journal OnLine in a story "Losing Faith in a Mentor Over Personal Failings...When a mentor goes astray in his personal life, can you still trust him professionally?". I was really curious to get my wife's perspective on the matter. 

I also do a lot of work in pre-employment selection and assessment incorporating psychometric tests and structured behavioral interviewing.  I always find it interesting that when my wife and I interview someone to be our son's piano teacher or to work on our house etc. I rely heavily on my wife's assessment and intuition. Do you have a similar experience?

Over the years, I have asked a number of my executive coaching clients if they discuss their work with their spouse/partner. I have found it interesting that some executives find it very helpful and others keep a firm boundary between work and home life. The prevailing thought is they work so many hours and don't want to bring work home with them.

Do you share work matters with your significant other?

Full Engagement Leadership: Authentically Caring about Your People

My young son received the following note from his sixth grade basketball coach. I shared it with some of my executive coaching clients. I thought it was a great example of leadership and genuine caring. We then had coaching conversations about engaging your people by showing them you truly care. A couple of executives even decided to write some of their people a letter!

You might want to see how writing something similar might engage your team members. A personal written letter may be becoming a lost art, but can mean so much to someone. Employees don't know how much you care about them unless you tell them.

"I just wanted to write you this note and thank you for winning that game today for us. You were fantastic today. Not only were you our high scorer, but I believe you got the most rebounds and made lots of great defensive plays as well. You were everywhere the ball was and played your heart out the whole game.

There is no way we could have won without you.

I also wanted to thank you for playing guard half the time and wing half the time in our games. That's not easy to do but you are the only guy on the team who can play any position.

You are a great player Maddog. Keep working on your game and you will be a star player in High School some day.

Thanks again for a great effort from a great player.

See you at practice,

Coach Bob"

Building an Engaged Workforce: Are You Fully Engaged at Work?

Are you happy in your chosen career? Is your work aligned with your purpose, values and passions?

I love what I do as a leadership consultant and executive coach. This Thursday morning I walked into the local supermarket and the cashier tells me with a sigh it's almost Friday. I just don't have the same emotional experience in my chosen work. All days are great. I don't live for the weekends.

Similarly, I've observed that my high performing coaching clients live and work in the moment. I can feel the energy when they walk into my office. They don't create a lot of stress by creating negative thoughts about what may or not happen. They seem genuinely happy with who they are as a person and their work.

Are you more like the cashier or someone who is fully engaged in your work?

Measuring Employee Engagement: Gallup's 12 Questions (Q12)

How happy and productive are you at work? Some people love where they work and their boss. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the majority of workers.

A major reason that clients seek my help with executive coaching is better work/life balance. A great number of the lawyers I coach struggle with having a life and a legal career. My accountant coaching clients are now gearing up for tax season and you can feel the stress begin to build.

It's hard to be fully engaged and perform at a high level unless the work environment supports your success. Are you fully engaged and supported at work?

Employee Engagement: Is Your Workforce Fully Engaged?

Our culture values work as a means to find fulfillment in life. Some cultures work to live, but we seem to love to work.

Ask almost anyone who they are and they will tell you what they do for a living. You get a temporary pass by telling everyone that you are a student!

So don't you think it is really curious why so many people are not happy at work?

Wise Leadership: The Process of Making Good Judgment Calls

The fundamental essence of leadership is the ability to make consistently good judgment calls. The quality of a leader’s judgment determines the entire organization’s fate. Are you and your organizational leaders regularly making good jufgment calls?

Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis claim judgment is the essence of leadership. In their book, Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls (Portfolio, 2007), they write: “With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else matters.”

Happy Leaders: Judgment and Decision-Making Rule

Leadership experts Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis claim judgment is the essence of leadership in their popular book, Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls (Portfolio, 2007).

Over the last twenty years, I have found that my most successful executive coaching clients exercise exquisite judgment. They also tend to be very clear in their decision-making.

In my experience, leaders who have good judgment seem to also be happier and lead organizations with a positive climate.

What do you think? What is your experience related to leadership and judgment?

Leadership Agility: Judgment...Leaders Who Make the Right Calls

The US presidential debates have focused a great deal on the issue of leadership. What is the difference between management and leadership?

Is experience more important that judgment? What are the specific competencies of good leadership? Who made the right decisions? Each of you I'm sure has some pretty thoughtful opinions on this.