How To Be A Good Leader At Work

Welcome to Hero TV. Today we’re talking about leadership and what can you possibly expect to learn in 10 minutes to change the way that you lead I admit I was surprised too. We recorded this this video before the intro. I learned something. I really value what you shared so have to watch this whole video, it’s very powerful, it’ll change the way you do leadership in your business.

Before going off on my own and building my own business and speaking career, I had the opportunity to work for many different companies including being a corporate sales trainer. For a time I was responsible for the training both on individual products within our organization and also sales training for over 80 employees within our individual department and that also often worked cross promotionally in cross departmentally with other organizations making sure the messaging was consistent. I learned some amazing things throughout that process and the opportunity to grow as a leader myself but then also watching other people lead was really really insightful. And I have to say that my experience working at that corporation comes to my mind almost every single day while I lead my own business and while I manage my small team. As a leader, there is so much information out there that can help you create the kind of leadership style that you want. There are many assessments, many different leadership programs, many books on the subject for you to grow as a leader and for you to know your team and understand your team and to lead with them. And while I’m not going to introduce a brand new program to you what I know for certain regardless of the system that you use, if it works for you great. I’m not going to change it but what I know is that there is an important fundamental principle that leaders need to understand and that’s where leadership and communication intersect. I’m going to share with you today the principle of persuasion that came about as a result of watching a sales team and a sales structure change every single fiscal year. And through the course of the time that I participate in that organizations, we went through four different sales structures. I stayed closely associated with that company as many friends continued to work there and every year the sales structure changes and I am so surprised about how it comes down from the CEO down to individual sales managers, into individual teams. And for so long, I watched managers say, “this is the way it is deal with it”.

Now whether you as a leader have the responsibility to affect change or if you’re just the one implementing it, you get to choose how its communicated. And so today I want to share with you what I consider the most important leadership principle. And that is, how to talk about it. Because all the things that you do every single day are the conversations that you have with your team as a whole and with individuals. So what I want to share with you is what I call the principle of persuasion orconversational leadership enrollment. Enrollment is a four-step process where you and your team or you and an individual on your team come to an agreement about how to move forward. This works not only with sales structure teams changes or any type of organizational change that happens whether it’s you’re taking on a brand new team or you’re taking on a brand new responsibility or project or if there’s an individual in your team that needs to do something new, this needs to happen. And even if it is a directive that comes down that you need to do or deal with, you can communicate it in a more powerful way and thus be a really powerful leader. So I’m going to walk you through the four steps of this enrollment process. Number one is the plan. Help people understand the overall purpose of the plan or the change. In the given age and day that we live in, change is a constant in every corporation. New systems, new strategies, new organizational changes, new sale structures come almost as frequently as minutes in the day. So communicating that is important but helping them understand the plan and the overall structure is critical. Why is this change important? why does it need to happen in this way? why does it need to happen at this time? and why is this team member or your team as a whole an important part in that plan? Often when we throw something down and say, Hey this is what has to happen, we forget helping people buy into the plan as a whole and if you take the time to help them understand why it’s important, then it’s really easy for them to buy in and understand their level. If you just say, “here deal with it” then there’s no ownership there.

Why would they get it done? But the second part about that is the commitment. Is the commitment to the plan. And this is something that lacked in that corporation that I worked for because we were trained that something new was going to happen every 12 months, we became uncommitted as an organization because we knew we would just have to adopt something new in a short amount of time. So you need to share the commitment the company has to this program. Now you may not be able to share a long term commitment, you may not even be able to share a commitment pact beyond a month, but whatever it is know that commitment is clear. Because sometimes when you throw things down the pipe they’ll say, “why are you doing that you should do it another way?”. You need to show them that the plan or the purpose or the goal is committed for a certain amount of time. Be honest if it’s only for a month. If it’s only for 12 months and you can even say, you know what I don’t know if this will last beyond this fiscal year but I do know that as long as it’s here I’m committed to helping you be successful. Makes all the difference. Now the third step in the enrollment process is helping them understand the individual action items that matter to them. Beyond the big picture and beyond the commitment, they need to know how their roles fit. In a team or organization, it’s important to understand if this employee is responsible for this list of tasks and this employee isn’t responsible for this list of tasks and this one is responsible for this list of tasks, how do you cross over and make sure that there’s a lane of communication? who do they report to? is there a system or process? Making sure that they understand the individual action items in the plan itself is important. While this doesn’t sound super fun, it really is critical. If people know where their part exists in the plan as a whole and they can buy into that plan and know where it exists in relation to the people around them, then it’s a lot easier for them to take ownership and actually do it at higher levels because the system and plan is clear. Now for a lot of us, we do really well at item 3. We do really well at telling people this is your individual task, these are your individual action items. But if you skip one or two people are less likely to be committed. But that’s not it. The fourth part is the most important. Often forgotten is what I call, question based leadership and the key to being the most effective leader at work that is asking for a question of support. Don’t just say do it or go ahead. Ask them the question, can I get your support in that? will you commit to this job? Or one of my favorites under what circumstances can I get you to do this job so that you will be the most successful? Now while you’re asking a question of support don’t shy away from the conversation. As a leader, you might have to answer some other difficult questions before they’re willing to say yes. But if you can get through that process, then they know that they’re committed because they have committed to you verbally. Not just received a task or didn’t just show up in their inbox something that was actually passed along and there was a verbal commitment made. Now some of you are dealing with teams and organizations that are all over the country and throughout the world but pick up the phone or have a webinar chat. Have the opportunity to have that commitment not just in writing but a verbal conversation that lets that leadership and communication intersect. Through this enrollment process, you’ll find that people are more committed to get things done. You’ll find that they’re better able to navigate change and you’ll find that your ability is a leader to reach them, connect with them, and help them to be the most successful will improve. Now there are some derivatives that come down to a group as a whole and your team all needs to follow a specific plan. But I also know that individuals need this conversation too. So you might have individual conversations with every member of your team and you also might have a team meeting but know that sometimes the individual might have something different in your ways to react and work with them will help you prove your leadership. Well having the opportunity to work at a corporation I was surprised to find after six months of working for a new manager that one of my co-workers was on a completely different plan than I was. I learned in that instant that while my plan was different it was right for me and her plan was right for her. She actually asked me, are you doing the same thing? and I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to say yes or no. I felt like it was appropriate for me to say, wow that’s interesting I totally honor Marshall for understanding that each of us have different goals and plans. Now I know that it makes harder for you as a leader to be a really good one that you might have to create a different plan or a different conversational enrollment to make sure that your team is highly functioning but I also know that, that’s where you will be the most effective. So as you think about your leadership at work, think about it not just as a team function but as an individual function that will help them thrive and also help you look good. Now the last part that I want to share with you is I know that one conversation isn’t going to solve all the problems. I know that one principle of persuasion isn’t going to make everything work and I know that you’ll continue to have interesting and difficult conversations. And some days you feel like you’re only dealing in conversation. But I know that leadership exists not because you’re setting out the plan and making it happen but because you’re bringing people into an overall picture that makes them excited about what they do. Every single day, every single week, you have the opportunity as a leader to motivate them for powerful change and they can learn more by watching you motivate them than they can by the project itself. Know that the people that are on your team now may not be there forever. One day they may have your job, one day they may go to another organization, one day they may have the job above you. And the ways that you act and show your leadership will last not just for this project but a long time into the future. I know that while implementing this can feel a little bit trickier the more you do it and the more you follow through with these four steps and conversational enrollment as a leader the easier it becomes and the easier it becomes to navigate challenges when they come as well. And while my team of five exists and runs on this simple conversation from every single individual task to our company as a whole, it works in multiple outlets and it also works in your personal relationships as well.

I know that as a leader, once you get out of your business every single day, there are other things and other conversations that you need to have. So you might find this conversational enrollment will work with a spouse or a loved one. It works also really well with children but it can work with strangers as well. If you need somebody to help you with something take the time to help them understand the big picture in their role. Get their buy-in and commitment and you’ll find greater success. Not just at work but in your personal life as well. Who knew that communication was such a big part of leadership. Now we all do and I’m excited to implement some of these things myself. Thanks so much for Michelle for coming in and teaching as these things. Put a lot of information down in the description below. Of course be sure to subscribe. Remember to live on purpose, make a difference, and be the hero.