• It costs 10 times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer.

  • The brighter you are, the more you have to learn.

  • 25 of every 27 customers who have a bad experience fail to report it because they don’t believe anything will change.

  • Employee loyalty builds customer loyalty, which builds brand loyalty. It’s as simple - and as difficult - as that.

  • 70% of organizational changes fail and these failures can be traced to ineffective leadership.

  • Companies Don’t Solve Problems.
    People Do.

  • First, people don’t grow and change much unless they’re in a supportive environment where people know what they want to do and encourage them to do it.

  • Leadership IQ being equal, it is believed emotional intelligence – how we manage ourselves, our emotions and the emotions of others – accounts for 85 – 90% of what separates the most outstanding leaders from their peers.

  • People are the core strategic asset. To be successful, a company must listen, involve, encourage, nurture, support, empower, and reward all its constituencies.

  • 50 – 70% of how employees perceive their organization can be traced back to the actions of one person – the leader.

  • The key to building a culture based on Trust and Personal Responsibility is getting all employees to be committed to the organization’s Vision and the Values That Build Trust.

  • 85% of business leaders agree that traditional differentiators alone are no longer a sustainable business strategy.

  • Learn something every day. Never stop learning.

  • Corporations can work five times harder and spend five times more money to gain new customers, or they can keep the ones they have.

  • Change is constant. To implement change you must listen, engage, and empower individuals in the change process.

  • The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving. Oliver Wendell Holmes

  • It is estimated that 80% of mergers and acquisitions that occur today fail to meet initial expectations.

  • The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. Vince Lombardi

  • If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow rice. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. – Chinese Proverb

  • A survey of 350 executives across 14 industries, 68% confirmed their companies experienced unanticipated problems in their change process. – International Consortium of Executive Development Research.

  • 78% of consumers say their most satisfying experience occurred because of a capable and competent customer service representative.

  • "High performing organizations are constantly focusing on improving their capabilities through learning systems, building knowledge capital and transformational learning throughout the organization.” - Ken Blanchard

  • Effective coaching is a key method for increasing productivity and profitability in an organization. Recent studies have shown that 85% of the workforce wants holistic coaching so that they can continually improve and grow.

  • Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. Winston Churchill

  • The number one fear in the world is public speaking. “You” vs. “I” messages are powerful tools for capturing your audience’s attention.

  • The key to keeping customers satisfied and loyal is to value and train employees while making them an integral part of corporate success.

  • Leadership is being the best you can be, and helping others be the best they can be.

  • No one of us is as smart as all of us – when teams function well, miracles happen.

PM World Journal - Ten Critical Steps to Achieving Magnetic Leadership with Teams

 

PM World Journal Ten Critical Steps to Achieving Magnetic

Vol. II, Issue II – February 2013 Leadership with Teams

www.pmworldjournal.net Advisory Article by Dianne M. Durkin

 

  

Magnetic leaders inspire others to be the best they can be and to perform at optimal levels. They are a contagious force that clearly knows how to set the direction for a team or project. They are able to clearly, concisely and consistently communicate the plan so that individuals become engaged and empowered to perform at their best individually and as a team.

 

A magnetic leader understands a T.E.A.M. brings out the best in everyone because:

Together Everyone Achieves More

 

Magnetic leaders realize that leadership is an engine. It’s an engine that allows for team creativity and innovation in developing solutions to major business issues and implementing project goals and objectives. Magnetic leaders encourage every team member to bring their brains to work and fully engage and empower team members to think outside the box and contribute at their best. Magnetic leaders look to the future and think through how their actions or the team’s actions will affect longer term results.

Below are 10 steps to help leaders achieve maximum team results when working on specific projects:

 

1. Develop the Powerful Trio of Vision, Purpose and Values. The project vision needs to be stated clearly, concisely and consistently. The purpose needs to be simple. Goals, principles and values of how the team members are expected to behave and act should be set forth at the beginning of the project. In addition it is helpful to identify each team member’s strengths and areas for development. In this way their strengths can be utilized to their maximum.

 

2. Identify the Team Behavioral Styles. Every individual is unique and has different needs and reactions to stress and pressure. Magnetic leaders help team members understand their individual styles and focus the energies of each team member to achieve the overall goals and objectives set forth for the project.

 

3. Track Your Leadership Progress. Twenty-one consecutive days of doing the same thing changes behaviors. I therefore encourage leaders to keep a leadership log for 21 consecutive days. If you miss a day, you break the pattern and need to start over. The answers to the following 5 questions should be documented in the log:

 What leadership traits did I exhibit today?

 Was I flexible? Did I adjust my style to work more effectively with others?

 How have I built my trust bank with others?

 Did I stop and listen versus react?

 What was my modus operandi, and was it appropriate for the situation?

At least once per week you should review your responses and reflect on your learnings and changes in behavior. The results will surprise you. You will be permanently changing patterns.

 

4. Recruit and Retain the Right People. This begins with an exercise of identifying what makes an individual successful in the particular team environment you are recruiting for. Most answers will include flexibility, team perspective, listening and questioning mindset, optimism, etc. Notice there is little mention of particular skills. It is more about attitude and personal attributes of the candidates. So the big question is:

How do you hire for these characteristics?

 

It’s all in the listening and questioning process. It’s important to ask general open-ended questions that reveal who the candidate really is and what motivates them.

 

Examples include:

 Tell me about the best team/ project experience you’ve ever had.

 What made it so good?

 What role did you play in the overall success?

 

In recruiting the best, a leader must remember the candidates have criteria and they are evaluating the position on the team or whether they are interested and passionate about the project. Determining a person’s criteria can be achieved by asking candidates:

“What questions do you have for me?” Their first question provides you with an indication of what is of prime importance to them.

 

5. Engage, Empower & Enrich Your Team Members – Ask and listen are keys to this step of becoming a magnetic leader. When you ask individuals for their ideas and approaches to a particular project and make them part of the solution, they are energized and much more committed to the team’s and project’s success. Make each team member feel their ideas are realized and you will see smoother and faster project implementations.

 

6. Create a Work Environment that Fosters Creativity and Innovation – Having a space where team members can take a deep breath or regroup before jumping back into deadlines, discussions and distractions is key. What about an inviting bean bag chair that is great for impromptu brainstorming sessions or a lounge area with couches for a quick coffee break and discussion with fellow team members?

 

7. Appreciate and Reward Your Team Members – When milestones are met (big or small), they need to be recognized. This provides momentum to move forward to the next challenge. Individual recognition of team members needs to be sensitive to style differences. Some people really enjoy public recognition while others prefer private acknowledgment.

 

8. Focus on Things that Inspire Your Team – The individual approach is also important with this step. Some people are inspired by education and learning new things, others by the newest technology and others by having a balanced life. Learn what it is for each of your team members and focus on those things.

 

9. Improve the Most Important Things First – It’s important to be able to identify the things that are impacting you and your team’s progress and address those issues head on. Continually ask the question, “Is there anything holding us back from achieving even more success than we have today?” This is continual improvement – a concept magnetic leaders practice daily.

 

10. Visualize the Future – Describe in as much detail as possible the ideal team, the project results and your successful management of the team. Visualization is known to bring incredible results with athletes, magnetic leaders and now you!

Practice these steps and energize the inner powers of your teams despite the outer pressures!

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