When Achievers Stall

High achievers are prone to enter a time in their career where they plateau or stall. Perhaps promotions are not coming as fast and furious as they once did or in some cases, they have achieved every goal they have set and have run out of challenges. Achievers will ask themselves, "Is this all there is?" After striving for success, when success levels out, the feeling of advancement is replaced by a feeling of stagnation. This condition could be called Achievers Depression or Career Stall.

The symptoms of this condition can include:

• Bitterness or negativity that replaces a generally positive view of work.
• Overly critical of peers, employees and even the boss - disappointment in self can lead to disappointment in others.
• Moodiness - Either disengagement and withdrawal or aggression or a combination of both.
• Feeling of being trapped - promotions often take longer and external opportunities may be harder to come by.

This perceived lack of control can cause a corresponding reaction of defensiveness, either aggressive or passive.

Prescription for Performance

1. Re-establish Goals - An achiever needs goals to achieve and so I recommend setting new goals that will motivate the drive to succeed.
2. Focus on building up others - After achieving personal success, I recommend that the individual help others succeed. Growing others is different kind of achievement and is personally rewarding.
3. Decide What You Truly Want -If your true desires cannot be satisfied from your current situation then determine what would make you happy and make the change.
4. Appreciate the Opportunity - A career stall presents an opportunity to reflect and regroup. Instead of seeking a quick and easy answer, spend time contemplating the next step. Making a rash decision can lead to further diappointment.

If you are feeling stalled, consider a coaching session or two in order to set a new course for yourself.

Coaching a Manager Who is Too Tough

In a previous post we examined a manager who was too easy on his team. In many cases an assignment will come in to work with a manager who has the opposite challenge - he or she is too tough on employees.

Often these hard-nosed managers tend to work long hours, do the work his team was supposed to do, be overly critical of others and not keep everyone informed.

As part of the coaching process, here are the typical elements of the prescription for performance for a tough manager:

1. Clarify in his/her own mind what the long term vision is for the team/organization. A tough manager believes that either she has already made it clear what the goals are or that people should know the goals because they are obvious. Unfortunately employees do not know the priorities because in their mind, the priorities are constantly shifting at the apparent whim of the manager.
2. Use a daily and/or weekly team meeting so that all members of the team can be aware of the priorities without the manager having to act as a clearing house for information. Many tough managers are like the hub in the center of a bicycle wheel. Everyone has to come to him or her with problems or to get a decision. Of course the manager doesn't understand why employees don't just do the right thing on their own and the vicious cycle continues.
3. Stop providing answers to every question and solving every problem. If we assume that most of the team members are qualified and experienced the manager should let the individuals on the team retain ownership of the issues and not take over the situation.
4. Stop doing the work of the team. In order to build greater accountability, the tough manager needs to let her team enjoy the consequences, good or bad, related to their area of responsibility.

The team will also have to adjust to the change in leadership style. While the change will be positive, there may be some frustration during the transition from manager-centred to team-centred leadership. Click here to review our coaching process.

Coaching a Manager Who is Too Easy

The Plant Manager was becoming increasingly frustrated. His production manager was struggling to meet plant performance targets and was not getting his team to take ownership of achieving results. The initial diagnosis was that the production manager was being too easy on his team.

As with most management problems, only two or three behaviours cause the majority of aggravation and frustration.

Using feedback from a Leadership Style Inventory, we determined that the production manager was passive-defensive. He did not have a clear idea in his mind on what he wanted to achieve each day in the plant. He wanted people to like him and tended to either have no goals, or set the goals too low. He was overly rigid with policies and procedures and tended to jump in and do the work himself instead of delegating tasks to others.

As part of the coaching process, I offered this prescription for performance:

1. Clarify what you want to see happen. I suggested that he list his frustrations (the things that happened that he did not want) and the corresponding list of things he did want to see instead. It is like driving a car. When you look over the hood, the road is always bumpy and jerky and when you look to the horizon you will tend to move more smoothly in that direction.
2. Be specific in communicating expectations and directions and give a reason. I suggested that when he gives direction on the shop floor he should use the word because and give a reason. The reason can be part of his vision. People tend to do what you want when you give them a reason.
3. Ask for a commitment. When we teach communication skills, we encourage managers to ask for a commitment when they make a request. Asking, "Can I count on you to take care of this?" gets the individual to enter a verbal contract and makes it more likely they will do what you want.
4. Take action. Passive leaders tend to enter a state of paralysis, fearing to make the wrong decision in case it offends an individual on the team. My prescription was that the production manager should take action when he noticed himself slipping into a passive mode.

Do you have a manager who is not able to achieve the same level of results with their team as they did as an individual contributor? Perhaps a coaching session or two might be just the trick to get them back on track. Click here for the approach.

New Audio Program Helps You Get Buy-in to Your Great Ideas

Have you experienced the situation where you think you have been clear in communicating what you want and need, only to be disappointed and frustrated when others do not buy in enthusiastically? Even the most thought-out, logical arguments might create unexpected resistance.

That's exactly why Dr. Peter DeShane and I collaborated to create a brand new 8 CD and one DVD self-study program called Persuasive and Influential Leadership. Based on the successful live workshop, this self-paced program covers the advanced communication skills you need to get others to do what you need to get done, willingly.

The program is based on the science of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) which studies the link between how you think and how you communicate.

Key Benefits

• Achieve greater results in less time with less resistance.- Help others adapt to change more easily.


• Get ready for promotion because you are able to get things done through others.


• Reduce conflict by positioning your information to be acceptable to everyone.

What the Program Covers:

• The influence of existing habits both for you and the people around you.
• How to build instant rapport with almost anyone, including people who you don't naturally click with.
• The science of resistance - why people resist even when they acknowledge the need to change. How to position information so that people think of it as their idea and are more committed.
• Why logic often fails to persuade and how to position information in a way that others can accept both logically and emotionally.
• Why people are naturally programmed to resist change because it causes a disruption to habits - and how to get them to buy in more readily.
• Three main ways people process information and how to identify and adapt to their dominant processing style.
• How to adapt to people who speak much faster than you do, or who speak much slower than you do.
• The power of stories - how to craft your key messages into powerful stories that help people relate to your message on a personal level.
• Using email more effectively to build rapport electronically.
• Using specific words that are proven to create greater commitment by others to do what you want.
• How to overcome obstacles that keep people from moving ahead.
• and much more.

Edutainment

The program is delivered in an entertaining and engaging way. You will enjoy the conversational style that Greg and Peter use. It will be as if they are sitting with you one on one. You will want to listen to the content again and again to master the skills of influence.

What is Included

1. Four audio CD's covering the core course concepts.


2. A comprehensive workbook that reinforces the key course concepts.


3. An application CD on How to Deal with Difficult People


4. An application CD on how technical roles can communicate with non-technical people.


5. An application CD on Sales. How to get customer buy in more quickly and easily.


6. An application CD for Human Resource Professionals to keep the organization moving forward with positive employee relations practices.


7. A one-hour DVD that demonstrates the course material visually so you can grasp and use the program more easily.

Four Application CD's

Recognizing that different professions and situations can require different approaches we have recorded four application CD's that take the core program concepts and focus them on these areas:

1. Dealing With Difficult People - Once you learn why people are difficult you can alter your approach to get them to buy in more easily. Imagine taking a person who always is oppositional and turning them into your biggest supporter! Less resistance means less stress on you plus the ability to get more done.


2. Technical Professions - Information technology, engineers and other technical roles can struggle with communicating complex information to other areas of the organization. In this application CD we present a systematic approach to presenting technical solutions in a framework that others can support with enthusiasm. Greater buy-in will move projects along faster and get necessary support to new projects.


3. Sales - Sales professionals and others who deal with customers as part of their role will benefit from this application CD that specifically addresses how to get customers to buy into your proposal and how to really determine the level of interest your customer has in your solution. Get customer buy in more easily in order to grow sales.


4. HR - HR professionals often face two challenges. First they need to convince other managers to treat employees with respect and secondly they often have to mediate employee requests and concerns while reinforcing company policy. This application CD gives HR professionals the skills they need to get buy-in more quickly and help the organization achieve success.

A DVD shows you how:

A one hour DVD provides a visual demonstration of the key concepts which will help you grasp the information more quickly and easily. The DVD was produced into a one-hour cable television special and has earned top reviews.

The investment:

The entire program is US$339.95. You can pay in full or pay in three easy monthly installments of US$114 each.

Guarantee: We are acredited with the Better Business Bureau so you can rest easy that we will fully refund your purchase price if you are unhappy with the program for any reason within six months of purchase. Simply return it to us and your refund will be processed immediately.

Order the Program today:

Click Here for the One-time Payment Option

Click Here for the Three-payment Option

Call us toll free at 1-866-700-9043 or email info@uniquedevelopment.com

Leadership Strategies to Grow Sales in a Recession Video

If you missed our live seminar and webinar, now is your opportunity to purchase the recorded version of the one-hour webinar. Watch it personally or get your team together and watch as a group.


Click here to preview the program video and purchase it now.

This presentation covers the following information designed to help you boost your sales in a difficult economic environment:

• How to turn order takers into order makers


• How to manage your sales funnel to create more sales


• How to get more people in your organization involved in revenue generation


• How to focus on lead measures instead of lag measures to increase sales before your actual sales numbers are posted


• How to reenergize and refocus your sales team on using consultative selling skills to increase the closing ratio


• How to increase your share of the customer's wallet and take business away from competitors


• How to refocus on the problems being experienced by your customer and position your solution to helping solve those problems.
  

Click here to preview the first six minutes of the video and see if the whole program could be of benefit.

Latest Podcast Available

The latest episode is now available for the Be A Better Leader audio podcast. This episode covers:

• What Leaders Can Learn from Dog Obedience Training
• Growing Sales in a Recession
• Regaining Your Innovation Mojo
• Stealing vs. Growing Star Performers and Leaders

If you are an iTunes user, you can subscribe to the podcast at: iTunes Store Link
Or you can visit http://www.beabetterleader.com/podcasts

How to Make a Living From Your Speaking Talent

Comedian Jerry Sienfeld quipped that people fear public speaking more than they fear death; so at a funeral they would prefer to be in the casket instead of delivering the eulogy.

Toastmasters has been helping people learn how to get comfortable speaking in front of others and get proficient at the art of public speaking. Some people might be curious to know what it would take to jump from "public speaking" to "professional speaking".

Unique Training & Development Inc. President Greg Schinkel will be delivering a session entitled "How to Make a Living From Your Speaking Talent" to Windsor-Essex-Tecumseh Toastmasters. The public is welcome to attend the session on Wednesday, June 17th 2009 at the Fogolar Furlan Club. Doors open at 5:45 PM and the presentation will begin at 6:45 PM.

Greg is presenting on behalf of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers Southwestern-Ontario Chapter which is focused on helping speakers and trainers build their businesses. CAPS-SWO Website

In the presentation, Greg will present facts on what speakers can earn, the different business models available and how to build a successful speaking business. He will also present information about the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

A voluntary small contribution is requested to support the cost of room rental. To indicate you are planning to attend, please call Sylvia Schultz at 519-979-6574.

If you cannot attend the session but would like to receive a copy of the presentation materials by email, please send an email to info@uniquedevelopment.com