Coaching/Mentoring

Five Leadership Hacks

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You know that with better leadership skills, your team could start performing at a whole new level.  Here are five ways to boost your team’s leadership skills today.

  1. Develop your leadership.

As a leader your job is to develop those around you.  Mary mentored and fostered new leaders in our organization on a regular basis.  Dozens of people she mentored went on to become leaders in our organization.  She was valuable because she created other leaders.  Be valuable too.

How do you develop your leaders?  Has your team had formal leadership training?  Our unique approach instills the five traits of exemplary leaders.  Make sure each of your leaders has the skills they need to lead.

  1. Know your people better.

Remember when the standard to meet with direct reports for formal performance reviews was once a year?  No more.  Now the guidance is at least once a month.  This does three things.  One, it builds a sound relationship with your team member.  Leadership is about relationship.  Two, it is a valuable chance for you to get regular, valuable feedback on your organization.  Finally, it gives them a regular update on their performance.  Tackle performance problems early.  Encourage high performers at every chance.  Here’s a good format for the 1 on 1:

  • What is going well?
  • What have you learned?
  • What will you change?
  • What are your next steps?
  1. Vision/Mission – again and again.

The best leaders never forget why they exist.  People hunger for meaning and purpose and a consistent reminder to your team vision and mission will remind them that what they do is significant.  Start every meeting answering the “why.”  Why are we meeting?  How does this meeting tie into our larger purpose?  Do this and they will be more inspired and fulfilled.  “Our meeting today is for (purpose)… which enables us to (mission/vision).”  Simon Sinek said it well, “Great leaders are able to inspire people to act; they give them a sense of purpose or belonging …”  Remind your team of the “why” – and inspire.

  1. Set clear expectations and follow-up.

Is your team working toward some measurable vital result?  We may have told them (or think we did). What is their understanding and what metrics are they working toward every day?  What gets measured gets improved (Drucker).  Is it sales, profit per transaction, repeat customers?  Ensure that your team has what they need and knock down any obstacles.  Are you serving them so that they can meet the expectations?

  1. Recognize results and desired behaviors.

Be the kind of leader who never stops finding the good in people and telling them.  It builds loyalty and fosters high performance.  We asked them to achieve it. Celebrate it.  Recognize everyday behaviors that will lead to results.  For example, long hours to meet a deadline, creative new approaches, serving the customer well, etc.  When was the last time you said it?  Do it today.

Do these five things regularly and watch your team take off!

Marion Student Leaves Center, Makes Impact

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(Above) Sabrina Mazyck, right, gathers field data with fellow student intern with National Park Service.

Outstanding students at Ohio State Marion have unique stories. Sabrina Mazyck, born and raised in Ohio, already had a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science when she came to Ohio State Marion Campus. Now, she is pursuing a degree in Environmental Engineering and has completed as much of her coursework at the Marion campus before she transitions to the Columbus campus this summer.  We were fortunate to benefit from her skills as a dedicated student employee in the Alber Enterprise Center this past year, and pleased that Sabrina will remain a Buckeye.

“I was fortunate to be able to take courses at Ohio State Marion since the tuition is so affordable. Financial aid is not available to students working on a second bachelor’s degree – only student loans,” Sabrina said. Cost of higher education has been a challenge, but Sabrina is hard-working, creative and persistent.

This student is a real go-getter, with past experience working as an Intern for Senator Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, on issues related to environmental policy.  She wrote about environmental impacts, attended briefings and visited government agencies, and became enamored with everything related to studying and improving the environment. “I feel that I had a tiny hand in the decision-making process around environmental policies (with the Senator’s office),” she said, adding, “But environmental engineers are involved in both policy work and the science behind it all, which means I could make a bigger impact.”

Another interesting internship Sabrina completed was with the National Park Service, where she worked on the Cuyahoga River as a Bioscience Tech Intern. “The Cuyahoga River has caught fire a total of 13 times, dating back to the 1800’s,” she said. Sabrina was part of team who waded in the water looking for zebra mussels and other invasive species, along with conducting organism surveys and recording the data. The group removed invasive species and propagated native plants near the river. “I carried a 50-pound backpack of herbicide and sprayed certain kinds of plants (identified as invasive), adding: “People in environmental work are some of the most kind-hearted I’ve ever met.”

After graduation from Ohio State, Sabrina is considering a Master’s in Ecology or Environmental Engineering. While her diverse experiences and initiative could take her anywhere, she would like to return to Hawaii after graduation from Ohio State in May, 2019.  With a cousin there, Sabrina was able to visit each of the Hawaiian Islands while interning for the senator. She said that the natives’ love of the land (meaning of Hawaii) is real…they are very environmentally-conscious. “The sea turtles are sacred – it is illegal to touch them. The people are so welcoming…I just loved it there!” said Sabrina.

Suffice it to say, Sabrina Mazyck is one student whom we would love to follow along to see where life takes her next. The sky really is the limit.

FRANK DISCUSSION #1

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“As a learning leader in your organization, which program outcome is more important to you: The learners remembering what they learned OR the learners applying what they learned?”

Gibson, Frank 2013 Staff page

Frank Gibson, AEC Program Manager

As you think about the question, take a few minutes to reflect on your career and the learning events you have led. What were your expectations of the learner and how did you assist them in applying what they learned? What kind of structure needed to be in place? What resources were needed (time, tools, etc.)? What worked? What didn’t work? What barriers interfered with the follow-up?

Reflecting on my career, I see my approach to learning has changed over time.  Early on, my approach was more informal, less-structured, and guided by very little in the way of lesson plans. It was a more intuitive and “Just-In-Time” approach to instruction. As I moved up the ladder, my approach evolved to that of a coach. I’d share a few of my experiences, question them, and then call them to action at the end….not telling them what to do per se, but rather aiming to trigger their thoughts about how they might do things differently. Now that I am in the business of education/training, everything about my approach is more formal, structured, planned, written and timed out, with reinforcement and coaching throughout and after the event.

When it comes to training others, first and foremost I focus on enabling the learner to apply what they learned as quickly as possible. With interpersonal skills, for example, I remember acting as a “champion” for 14 managers/ supervisors after the learning event to coach them on using the tools presented in the class to successfully apply what they learned.

In summary, both remembering and applying are important:  remembering the material is required to repeatedly apply what has been learned, and this enables mastery of the new skill or knowledge on the job.

You may want to do a self-assessment as a learning leader. In thinking about your most recent programming efforts, to what degree have you engaged participants in a timely follow-up/support/evaluation? Do you follow a Standard Operating Procedure to assess the degree to which your learners are remembering… and applying?

What are your thoughts?

Frank Gibson is a Program Manager with OSU’s Alber Enterprise Center.

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15 minutes could save your … strategic plan

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W.I.G.We’ve all experienced it, or heard about it.  A team spends weeks or months developing a strategic plan, and nothing happens with it after the glossy document gets printed.  Why does this great new plan just sit on the shelf gathering dust?  Business scholars over the past two decades have been researching why plans fail to be implemented  1. The overarching theme of their conclusions: people resist change.  How do we address this challenge? Through a structured plan for execution.  Your team needs to commit to the plan, yet they are busy with their daily duties (the “whirlwind”) and they don’t take time to focus on the strategic plan.  An effective execution plan starts with committing to a series of 15-minute segments on planning and implementing the strategic plan.

Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)2 is one formula to follow. The four disciplines are:

Program Manager of The Ohio State University's Alber Enterprise Center

Program Director of The Ohio State University’s Alber Enterprise Center

1.   Select one or two “wildly important goals” (WIG) that drive your strategic plan and can be measured and tracked.
2.  Identify the activities that lead to achieving the WIG(s), ones that your team can influence.
3.  Create a compelling scoreboard: simple, visible to the team, shows the lead and lag measures, and tells immediately if you are winning.
4.  Establish a weekly cadence of accountability in which each team member commits to working on one or two of the lead activities as well as reports on the efforts toward the WIG.

This 4DX plan is easy to implement by committing to 15-minute segments for each discipline:

  1. 15 minutes to identify and establish your WIG from your strategic plan. If you need two WIGs, spend another 15 minutes on the second one.
  2. 15 minutes per WIG to list all of the leading activities required to meet your WIG.
  3. 15 minutes to determine how you will show (scoreboard) the team’s progress toward leading activities and WIG and where it will be displayed.
  4. 15 minutes per week – the same day/time each week – for the accountability meeting.

We facilitated a strategic plan for one of our clients a year ago. After following up with them to see their progress, they reported that the leadership team implemented a few goals but felt they needed our help to really drive the plan throughout their organization with all employees. They embraced 4DX and are starting to see results.

This works! Try it, and let me know how it works for you.

If you need help in setting up your 4DX plan, the Alber Enterprise Center can show you how. Call 740-725-6325.

Citations:

1:  Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2010). The other side of innovation: solving the execution challenge. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Gudmundsson, H., Ericsson, E., Tight, M., Lawler, M., Envall, P., Figueroa, M., et al. (2012). The role of decision support in the implementation of “sustainable transport” plans. European Planning Studies, 20(2), 171-191.
Hahn, W., & Powers, T. (2010). Strategic plan quality, implementation capability, and firm performance. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 9(1), 63-81.
Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Larian, L., Day, M., Backhurst, M., Berke, P., Ericksen, N., Crawford, J., et al. (2004). What drives plan implementation? Plans, planning agencies and developers. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 47(4), 555-577.
2:  McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution: achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.

The desire to become an exemplary leader

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caregiver-qualifications

Leadership is everywhere.  Whether it’s a president leading a country, a coach leading players to a national championship, parents leading a family or a doctor leading a patient through a journey of an illness, we all lead at some point in our lives and at other times…we follow.  The question is, “What type of leader do you want to be?”  There are many models to choose from – transactional, transformational, classic leadership theory and ethical and critical leadership (to name a few)! However, my recommendations are two specific models that reflect the “best practices” in the way one chooses to lead.  One model is outlined in the The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (1995) and the other is Robert K. Greenleaf’s servant leadership model.

Anne Johnson, Program Manager for Alber Enterprise Center

Anne Johnson, MS, Program Manager for Alber Enterprise Center

The Leadership Challenge is a clear, evidence-based path to achieving the extraordinary—for individuals, teams, organizations, and communities.  It turns the abstract concept of leadership into easy-to-grasp practices and behaviors that can be taught and learned by anyone willing to step up and accept the challenge to lead.

Kouzes and Posner’s model reflects the beliefs and teachings of Greenleaf’s servant leadership model. The basis for any model is the desire to lead, which needs to be rooted in a strong desire to serve.

According to the Greenleaf Institute on Servant Leadership, “servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.”  In Greenleaf’s The Servant as Leader essay, published in 1970, “The servant-leader is servant first…It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.  Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”

Kouzes and Posner give similar, but more contemporary ways to become an exemplary leader by outlining the five practices of exemplary leadership, which are:

In today’s world, there is a great need for ethical and compassionate leaders.  This type of leadership calls each of us to a higher purpose, moving beyond “me” or “us” and into the realm of serving for the greater good.  There are many ways one can serve others as a leader.  We can each model the way for those we are leading or mentoring.  We can inspire a shared vision by communicating in a collaborative and meaningful way how we, as a team, are going to achieve our goals.

Creating an environment where everyone checks their titles at the door, where open, honest dialogue can take place among leaders and followers without fear of retribution or retaliation, is a way to challenge the process.  Providing staff with the tools and resources needed to be successful enables them to act, perform, and do their jobs to the best of their abilities and beyond.  In addition, who among us doesn’t want someone to encourage us, lift us up, and help us to be the best version of ourselves?  Most individuals long for that, both personally and professionally. Leaders have the ability to make that impact in someone’s life and to serve them in a way that makes a difference.

Lao-tzu, philosopher and poet of ancient China, said it best:

“To lead people, walk beside them… As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate… When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’”

For more information about our Leadership development training/services or the Leadership Challenge, contact us at 740-725-6325.

Anne Johnson is a Program Manager for the Alber Enterprise Center, which is part of Ohio State University Extension and Ohio State at Marion campus, serving businesses throughout Ohio.  Her focus is on the long term support services and healthcare sectors.  In addition, Anne is a trained facilitator for The Leadership Challenge® (Kouzes and Posner).

Coaching made me a better boss

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consulting-board roomWhen I was hired as program director for Alber Enterprise Center in December 2011, I thought I knew how to be a manager and leader.  After all, for two decades I studied the best authors – Drucker, Collins, Covey, Buckingham, Friedman, and dozens more.  I witnessed a myriad of management styles in private business and public education, and listened to their employees’ reactions, praise and complaints, then eventually began teaching leadership development courses.  I knew the importance of listening, giving feedback, team building, problem solving, performance management, and conflict resolution skills; especially their role in engaging employees and moving the organization forward.  Yes, I felt confident in my abilities to lead my own team.

Myra Wilson, MS, SPHR, Program Director, Alber Enterprise Center

Well, I learned there is a difference between knowing and doing!  My personal style of working entails rolling up my sleeves and digging in, taking full ownership of all the details while visioning the future.  My new team was great, helping me understand our center’s history with clients and excited about the opportunities to develop updated programs.  After three years, we were holding our own but I knew we had so much more potential to make an impact.  Sensing we had stalled, I found myself wondering about my abilities as a leader.  Then a phone call from a certified coach transformed our team into a high speed powerhouse that doubled the number of delivered programs in six short months.

He called me in hopes of becoming one of our center’s educational partners; a partner in delivery of leadership training and coaching.  I decided that the best way to assess his qualifications was to try him out on our team.  He facilitated our strategic plan and provided follow-up coaching to help us implement our goals.

What did the coach do for each of us? 

  • Confidentially identified behaviors each team member wished to strengthen
  • Assessed our current level of skill in each of those behavioral areas
  • Assembled a plan of action for improvement
  • Monitored our progress through feedback and other objective means

I learned two key lessons during my coaching sessions that have helped take our center to a new level of performance:

  • Let go of the details and delegate them to others – stay focused on the big picture instead of getting “tangled in the weeds”
  • Empower others to take ownership of their jobs by using the coaching techniques I learned – listening more and speaking less, asking questions rather than directing, rewarding positive behavior, and sharing successes as a team

This external (and objective) assessment not only made me a better leader and manager but has also elevated the performance of our organization and its members in the process.

To fulfill your coaching needs, contact us for more information.

Learning that Lasts: The Three Secrets to High ROI Training

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You believe in developing your employees.  You know that investment in annual training is the right thing to do. But you’re not seeing the change you want.  The vision of a healthy, high performing company still seems far off.

Jim Franks, Strategic Advisor/Coach for Alber Enterprise Center

Jim Franks, Strategic Advisor/Coach for Alber Enterprise Center

We’ve all experienced this.  “The workshop was great.”  “The speaker was engaging.”  You leave with a feeling of exhilaration that things are really going to change this time.  But after a few weeks you realize that things are back to the way they were before the workshop.

To address this very common problem, let’s discuss two things: 1) Why it happens and 2) What to do about it.  

Why training doesn’t stick

We are creatures of habit.  Our habits are engrained with years (sometimes decades) of repeated behaviors that have worked for us.  The conventional wisdom is that it takes three months to change a good habit and six months to change a bad one.  Change is not automatic.  Here’s the good news.  We all have the potential to change – even radical change.

Unless we constantly reinforce new skills over 3-6 months it is unlikely that the change will stick.  There needs to be a way to reinforce the desired change on a regular basis.

We are surrounded by others who are also creatures of habit.  When we come back from a workshop, ready to change, others around us are used to the old way of doing things.  They naturally resist change and impact you by virtue of their close proximity.  They will act in ways that reinforce the old habits.

These influences (your own habits and others), make up the culture of your organization.  Changing that culture begins with you.  You must intentionally persevere against this inertia until the change becomes permanent.

So how do you do this?  What follows are the three secrets to permanent change and finally getting a high ROI on your training investment.

How to drive permanent change

Start at the top.  The first key to getting a high ROI on your training is to get the buy-in and application by your senior executive team.  Otherwise the initiative will go into the category of the latest workshop of the month.  Here are some tips for executive involvement:

  • Have them kick it off with a strong statement of its importance.
  • Actions are more powerful than words. If it truly is important then they will take the time to attend.
  • There is nothing more powerful than a senior executive admitting how they are learning and growing based on the new approach learned from the workshop.

Follow-up coaching.  Visibility and examples from the top are key, but not the whole story of a successful implementation.  Each employee must have someone to remind him or her of the need to apply the new approach regularly.  This is where coaching comes in. This is the secret sauce that makes it really stick.

Over the past decade, professional coaching has quietly become the state-of-the-art method to develop professionals.  It works because it syncs up with how we are designed to change – with repetition and over time.

Here’s how it works.  A coach comes alongside the employee on a regular basis to remind them of the new skills and hold them accountable for putting them into practice.  Each attendee will inevitably face challenges applying the material and will need someone outside the organization to help them overcome these challenges.  The coach is not subject to the inertia of the old habits, but will remain steadfast and hold each employee accountable for change.

As a professional coach I’ve seen this work at organizations large and small and across many industries.  Training + Coaching works.

Peer Accountability.  Have each team member give account to their peers for their new behavior.  Do quarterly assessments that measure the new behavior to show progress – or lack of it.  Many think they are making progress only to find that others don’t agree.  Change doesn’t count unless others see it too.  The only way to know is to commit to it and measure progress.  Then act on the feedback until others agree.

There it is.  This works.  Guaranteed.  If you do these three things, the desired change will happen.  If it doesn’t, one of these three steps wasn’t done.

To learn more about this, watch for a White Paper on the OSU Alber site!

Jim Franks is a Strategic Advisor/Coach for the OSU Alber Enterprise Center (AEC).  He is passionate about helping leaders build healthy, high performing companies.  For more information about how the AEC can help your organization implement the solutions you want leading to the success you need, please call (740)725-6325 for a no-cost, no-obligation needs analysis.

Ridgemont students awarded scholarships to prepare for workforce

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Photo Credit: Kenton Times

Photo Credit: Kenton Times

Fifty Ridgemont High School students are on their way to becoming empowered leaders.  Each were awarded the “Rising Stars Initiative” scholarship.

Ridgemont High became the first school in the nation to receive this initiative.  The school district partnered with The Ohio State University’s  Alber Enterprise Center, Hardin County Chamber & Business Alliance and Performance Support Systems (PSS), as a collaborative effort to introduce the Future Farmers of America (FFA) students to this program.  The program will aid students to learn people skills and their personal strengths in high school and beyond graduation.

FFA students will partake in a year-long, online personal development program, called “Strong For Life.”  “Strong for Life” for ProStar Coach is a virtual program that can be accessed 24/7 at the student’s disposal to ingrain pertinent leadership qualities for the workforce.

Various classes such as Listening, Giving Constructive Feedback, Engaging in Dialogue, Resolving Conflict, Composure, Cooperation, Self-confidence, Responsibility, and many more are accessible for students to take.

According to a 2006 joint study, “Are They Really Ready to Work,” employers complained that young adults were “woefully-ill prepared” for the demands of the workplace, had poor communication and critical thinking skills.  PSS launched this initiative to address this “growing awareness” on young adults not being adequately prepared for any challenges they may face in the workforce.

Stephanie Jolliff, Ridgemont FFA  Advisor stated “It gives our kids the opportunity to connect with the real world.”

On January 5, 2015, Ridgemont received this non-monetary scholarship.  Normally, a one year individual subscription is $325 but with PSS working with participating schools and youth programs, it’s now free and accessible for teens.

By obtaining these qualifications earlier on and before embarking on their career paths, students will be better equipped with the necessary tools to succeed in the workforce and in life.  Frank Gibson, Program Manager of Alber Enterprise Center said “This is a rare and unique opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills [through coaching focused] on you, your career, your growth, and your future.  We challenge each student to not only receive coaching but to learn how they can use coaching skills to assist others.”

Each student will have assigned “Accountability Coaches” and “Support Coaches” that will guide them throughout the coaching process.

Bailey Drumm, Ridgemont High senior, expressed “This will better prepare us for jobs in the community.  I am confident in my leadership abilities, but I am also excited to see where this leads me.  I am hoping it makes me even better.”

“This can be a life-learning program.  The effect it has on students could affect other people in their lives,” claimed John Hohn, Director of Economic Development at Hardin County Chamber & Business Alliance.  “The long-term impact could be amazing.”

For more information about Strong For Life, visit:  strongforlifeteens.com or contact Frank Gibson at 740-725-6348.

(Special Note:  Article information and quotes pulled from the Kenton Times article, “Program goal to better prepare R’mont students for work force” by Dan Robinson, Staff Writer and Performance Support Systems’ Press Release)

Using the Blended Learning Approach in Lean Six Sigma

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Blended Approach

Norma Simons, President of Performance Innovation LLC and AEC Solution Partner

Norma Simons, President of Performance Innovation LLC and AEC Solution Partner

Blended learning can be defined as a mix of e-learning, face-to-face classroom style instruction, coaching and live or recorded sessions designed to reach a large audience and a wide range of employees.

The approach to learning can be customized using more of each component and will depend on the objectives of the training session and the tools and skills that are needed for employees.

Benefits of the Blended Learning Approach in Lean Six Sigma:

  • Reduces Waste– allowing students to learn modules for Lean Six Sigma ahead of time and allows classroom time to be focused primarily on project application.
  • Reduces Cost– using the Blended learning model reduces face-to-face instruction time as well as travel costs and material costs.
  • Increases Capability of Students – because students are able to go through the online learning component, they are able to go at their own pace, using assessment methods to evaluate their understanding with an option to return to review and update information.
  • Provides Coaching– this is done either in person or virtually and helps students to ensure that they are making progress and fulfilling the requirements at each tollgate.
  • Promotes Just-in-time Learning– students are able to learn each tool at the time when they need to be applied, which avoids learning large volumes of material when they are not needed.

The approach to blended learning is innovative and varies depending on companies, students and objectives of the training session.  The traditional methods of learning focus on one-way communication and in some cases do not always allow the type of participation that would encourage effective learning. Blended learning on the other hand delivers a large volume of ideas in a short time, encourages class participants to experiment under the supervision of the instructor and provides the participants with greater skill and a higher level of confidence with the class material when they return to the work environment.

E-learning compliments classroom training rather than replace it.  The approach is innovative and varies depending on companies, students and objectives of the training session.

Lean Six Sigma covers a wider area of content and requires individuals to be ready to implement or apply concepts to company projects in a short time.  The approach to learning allows instructors to focus more on coaching or mentoring rather than lecturing on the basics.

As companies move to implement Lean Six Sigma, it is important that attention is given not only to Lean Six Sigma training to ensure that there is a common language that is clearly understood but also the process of implementation.