Pic: Tim Gouw, unsplash.com

1 – A leader should have all the answers

Quite the contrary, you work with brilliant people and they have tons to share with you and can´t wait to do so. Saying you don’t know shows to others you are confident in not knowing and also invites them to shine and grow. You will engage and motivate your colleagues and peers so much more by regularly stating:

´I don´t know – what do you think?´

2 – I have to be there to support my team

Quite the contrary. There´s a lot of hand-holding, over-caring and over supporting out there. Your team shines and thrives when you step away from your team members regulary. You get to focus on what´s most important for you in your role and they get to do the same in their roles. That´s how you create amazing teams of fully motivated, committed and driven leaders. And that´s how you grow more leaders.

– The ultimate goal of leadership is to grow more leaders

3 – Micromanagement is a horrible thing

It´s not. Many times as the leader you are the one who has the most experience. Then it makes sense for you to train, give detailed instructions, and to set very clear expectations for your team. Yes, too much is definitely too much, but we all need a little bit of micromanaging and it´s essential in getting everyone into systems and processes and establishing shared working norms and routines. Yes, it can be a bit tedious, but nevertheless, a good dosage of micromanaging is just as valuable as asking open questions, listening and making sure all everyone has the freedom to do their work in their own unique ways.

Leadership balance
In leadership we need a little bit of everything to create a good balance.
We need to micromanage and instruct, but we also need to coach, listen, and give recognition.
We need to set overall direction, but we also need to let people decide specifically where to get to and work out how to get there themselves.

Allowing a little bit of everything means things come into balance.

And things in balance grow.

Picture: Christina @ wocintechchat.com, unsplash.co

Next time you have 1:1 development conversations with your team members, here are 3 key questions to ask them:

1 – Fast forward to a year from now, how would you like to have developed in your role?

3 – When you achieve this, what will it look like in practice?

3 – What or who will best support you in your development going forward?

Your role as a team leader is to sit back, take notes, listen and learn.

It can also be great to follow up with ´what else…?´ for each of these 3 questions, as this will help you go deeper into what their development is about, what it will look like and how it can be supported.

You will be surprised how aware your team members are of where they´re currently at and what they see as keys to their development going forward.

Just lean back, listen and enjoy!

It can be hard to look for possibilities during times of adversity. But these are also the times when you can most nurture your ability to create, recreate and innovate.

Here are 4 steps to strengthening your possibility mindset:

1 – Questioning your fears
During these times we are bombarded by fears, worries and doom day predication from here there and everywhere. Paradoxically, these fears and worries are likely to block your ability to think new, to reframe, think creatively and innovate. In other words these fears are likely to come true when you believe in them.

Questioning fears and worries are therefore a crucial first step to opening up for possibilities in a challenging situation. Here are some powerful questions to help you do that:

– Are the fears mine? Or is this something I am picking up from media, colleagues, my industry?
– Can I be absolutely sure these fears are true? (yes or no)
– What´s currently the evidence of these fears not being true?
– What´s possible without these fears?

2 – Balancing you mindset
You are more likely to effectively look for new possibilities when you are in a balanced state of mind. Practicing gratitude balances the minuses with the plusses.

Here are two powerful questions to help you balance your mindset:

– What´s good in this bad (situation)?
– What am I/are we truly grateful for in this situation?

3 – Reframing quickly when something goes wrong
Reframing is a muscle you can train. To measure your reframing muscle, notice how quickly you go into self pity, how long you stay there and how early you start to think ahead and look for new opportunities.

A cancelled business contract can give you time to regroup and plan for the future of your business so you can come out stronger ´on the other side´. A cancelled flight can give you time to think strategically and plan your next weeks so you can be a lot more effective in your work. These are examples of how unexpected changes can quickly become opportunities for growth when you leverage your reframing muscle.

Next time you lose a client or a project goes wrong, ask yourself at an early stage:
– What´s the opportunity in this?

4 – Spending time in silence and feeling into what is possible
When you set boundaries to noise and distractions you can strengthen your connection with your gut, your intuition and your senses.

Also, think about the type of environment that best supports your sense of connection with yourself. Maybe a walk in nature early in the morning or late in the evening can be a good support?

Once you reach a state of calm, balance and acceptance ask yourself this question:
– What is possible for me today in my life and in my business?

Just sit with the question, allow yourself think differently and open yourself up to new possibilities. Keep repeating the question, listen to your all of your senses and see what comes up for you.

This can be a great exercise for members in a team do individually before you do a brainstorming or creative session together as a team.

Want to learn more?
We offer short ´Essential business support courses´ to nurture and strengthen you and your team during the pandemic.

We can join your next online team meeting for a 30 – 45 minutes session to share tools and insight on how to strengthen resilience and nurture a possibility mindset during times of adversity.

Get in touch with us to hear more

Picture: Andrea Proietti, unsplash.com

Essential business support are short courses to support and inspire you and your organsiation during the pandemic.

These are short courses at a low price which will uplift and inspire your team, give you access to transformational tools and help your business see possibilities during very challenging times.

Picture: Rawpixel, unsplash.com

We currently offer two courses to support businesses:

´Essential business support:
Nurturing resilience and working from your strengths during challenging times´

and

´Essential business support:
Nurturing a possibility mindset´

Each course lasts 45 minutes and include the following:
– Tools and techniques to help balance yourself and strengthen your mindset
– Tools and techniques to help you look for possibilties when its otherwise hard to do so
– Sharing best practices from teams and leaders we have helped in the past
– Q & A
– Slides and material sent to you after the courses

Who is it for?
These course are for teams and groups of all sizes who seek support, inspiration and practical tools that will help them navigate challenges and proactively look for opportunties.

Course facilitator:
Vegard Olsen holds and MSc in Management from University of York, has worked 4 years as coaching trainer in London and Oslo and has facilitated many courses and workshops for SME´s since he started coachingpartner in 2012.

He has worked with hundreds of leaders globally and many teams over the past decade and as a facilitator he likes to share best practices from leaders he speaks with regularly as well as some of the latest research and theories related to team and leadership performance.

Get in touch with us to hear more!
info@coachingpartner.net
07922804400