Business

Resilience and Optimism as Leadership Competencies – Be Resilient and optimistic!

April 18, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Two great competencies for an executive are resilience and optimism. Is that you? Are you a resilient executive? Because in order to be successful and continue to have success in today’s economy, we need to be able to hone our resilience muscle.

When you think about all the trials and tribulations of your business, all the change and upheaval that you’ve experienced, that has given you the inner strength to continue to face the next opportunity. Resilience is strength. It is something that we all have the ability to tap into because we have weathered the storm.

We have gone through adversity. We’ve gone through personal challenges, professional challenges, business challenges and that’s what makes us stronger. So it is one of the most desirable competencies that organizations are looking for in their executives, is to know that they are resilient and that they are willing to do what it takes to take on the next challenge and to tap into their inner strength in order to make it happen.

Remember, when you are a resilient leader, you will face the challenges, you have faced them with an optimistic outlook and you know that when you look at the world through an optimistic lens, you are more likely to be able to meet that challenge head-on and rise to the occasion by being the absolute best that you can.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i9Sme8-VZo on YouTube.

Michelle Ray (Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Why Conflict Management is an Essential Interpersonal Skill

April 11, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Conflict management is the higher order of interpersonal skills. It is so important as a leader that you are able, that you that the ability, the competency, to be able to manage conflict. You may not always resolve it, but let’s make no mistake that as a leader if we do not address conflict it is an enormous cost to morale.

It is one of the key reasons to why people start thinking about leaving a job. And it actually is one of the biggest demotivators to individuals who were already performing well and were feeling good about what they’re doing, and they notice that their leader has not addressed an issue between their colleagues. So, your ability to manage and resolve conflict if possible, as I said, to be able to resolve it, is something that your individuals who are involved in the conflict are looking to you to manage. And also the rest of your team are expecting that you are able to do that.

Developing these skills is really important because to the individuals having the issue, as I said, if they feel that you aren’t able to address it then where are they going to go? Who are they going to turn to? They’re not able to manage it on their own. So that’s why they’re looking to you to be able to help them to deal with that concern, whatever it might be.

Time and again I’ve had people coming to me, whether it’s through my coaching services, or during a workshop session. I only had it happen the other day where someone said to me, you know what? There is an issue with another manager who is a bully and I know that my senior leadership aren’t addressing that. They aren’t addressing the conflict between us. And as a result of that I’m really at a point where I don’t think I can stay. And that is a really sad thing.

So, this really capable person is considering walking away from their position after 14 years because their management, their senior leadership, aren’t able to deal with this conflict. So, I’m urging you to think about developing your skills when it comes to managing conflict to the absolute best of your ability rather than risk losing great people.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkvJZeSHmBA on YouTube.

Leadership Styles – The Laissez-Faire Leader

March 28, 2019 by webadmin

There are many highly effective leadership styles. Every leadership style has a time and a place. The laissez-faire leader, for example, is one who recognizes that people have the ability to take the work and just run with it.

They are not micromanagers. A laissez-faire leader recognizes that that is the optimum style for people who know what they’re doing. Now I know that this sounds very obvious. The truth is that there are some people who do need more guidance. They do need a more hands-on type of leader because they are still learning their position. They are learning their role. They are still learning the tasks associated with their job.

So a laissez-faire style leader is one who really understands that people are already well-equipped to do their job and they don’t need a lot of interference or interjection from their manager in terms of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.

This article is a transcript from Michelle Ray’s Leadership Secrets at YouTube YouTube.

Leading Self – Demonstrating Ethics and Integrity

March 14, 2019 by webadmin

So according to The Society of Human Resource Management one of the categories for key leadership competencies is leading self. One of the first pieces of being able to lead one’s self is operating with high ethics and integrity.

Absolutely critical to your success as a leader is to be conscious of your own integrity and how your reputation is everything. The fact that people are paying attention to you as a leader and your values, and how you operate in the world and your character, because if we’re gonna be successful as leaders we need to realize that it is not about our title, it is about the essence of who we are, it is about operating at the highest level possible, realizing that we are absolutely under the microscope as leaders.

So to be a leader that manages one’s self with integrity in every single action is really the key to your success to be able to rise above any kind of challenge and do so with your reputation always remaining in tact because you are able to lead yourself.

This article is a transcript from Michelle Ray’s Leadership Secrets at YouTube YouTube.

Why are Interpersonal Skills important for Leaders

February 14, 2019 by Michelle Ray

So, what are interpersonal skills, and why are they important as a leader? When I think about the times that I have had individuals come up to me and ask me about their leaders, or talk to me about their relationships with their leaders it’s amazing how they focus on the personal side, and the soft skills side. And it’s interesting because not every leader is conscious about the value of honing those soft skills.

It’s amazing because they are so critically important. What is it really mean? It means that you have the ability to connect with people. You have the ability to listen to people. You’re showing a genuine interest in others when they come to you and talk about what is going on in their life. It means that you’re making time for people and you’re really cognizant of who they are as an individual.

So, in the myriad of things that you’ve got going on and everything that a leader has on their plate it is so important to realize that that person that is in front of you in that moment, that is wanting your attention, they are wanting your attention for a reason because of your influence, because of the fact that they look up to you. So, for you to be able to have a conversation to really listen to their concerns, to as I said, know what’s going on with them in their life is far more important in the grand scheme of things than a task they might be working on.

Let’s never underestimate your ability to have a conversation, to be a great listener, and to hone your soft skills as a leader every day that you’re in that position.

This article is a transcript from Michelle Ray’s Leadership Secrets at YouTube YouTube.

The Autocratic Leadership Style

February 7, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Some might say that an autocratic leader is out of style. I beg to differ. When could you need an autocratic style of leader? Well, it all depends on how you perceive the word autocratic. For example, in times of change and flux what do people need? They need someone to show them direction.

They need someone to say this is the way we are gonna do it. This is the way through. This is the way that we overcome this challenge. In other words, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative. Autocratic doesn’t necessarily mean dictatorial.

It means showing people the way when they are unable to discover it on there own. It means helping people to navigate through a difficult situation when people are at the crossroads or when people are confused about what to do next.

It’s someone who knows how to call the shots when people can’t find the way out. So, realize that may be one style that you can use and it’s situational depending on the circumstances. You might be the one who needs to call the shots and in those circumstances, that is totally okay.

This article is a transcript from Michelle Ray’s Leadership Secrets at YouTube YouTube.

Key Leadership Traits: The ability to Take Risks

January 31, 2019 by Michelle Ray

SHRM defined one of the most important competencies in leading organizations as taking risk. The ability to risk. Without question, we want to be conscious of taking calculated risk. There is a difference between taking extraordinary risk and taking calculated risks. What kind of a risk taker are you? If we don’t take risks, we simply stand still. Of course today, it’s impossible to move forward without taking some kind of risk. That involves of course being able to let go of the fear and trust yourself. Trust in who you have around you. Trust in your decisions. Trust in your decision-making ability that you are able to take that next step.

Some of the risks we take may seem overwhelming initially, but once you’ve taken that risk and you’ve lived to see the result, you realize that what you actually did will give you the energy to continue to take risks. Being a risk taker doesn’t necessarily mean you are the risk taker extraordinaire, but you have an ability to embrace your fears, move through them and take the next step to take the risk.

This article is a transcript from Key Leadership Traits: The ability to Take Risks YouTube.

Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics

January 24, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Let’s talk about political competencies as a leader. I’m not talking about you being an elected official, someone that has all the votes, but when it comes to your business, it’s all about understanding what is going on with the people dynamics, understanding when people are trying to get their own agendas heard. This is something that really does come with time and experience. When you are honing your skills as a leader and you get to understand the games that people are playing and how they’re trying to advance their own agendas, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, for you as a leader, it’s really important for you to understand that we need to manage these kind of office politics, business politics, because if we don’t, it could result in your team being very dysfunctional, and people are playing that game of trying to one-up each other, and of course, that could lead to disaster because people are constantly trying to advance their own agenda, but at what cost?

You as the leader need to really be cognizant of people trying to advance their own agenda, play the political games. What is that all about? How you manage that is really essential to keeping harmony, high morale, high engagement, and a fully functioning organization.

This article is a transcript from Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics YouTube.

Why is Courage an Important Trait of Great Leaders?

January 10, 2019 by Michelle Ray

What does it mean to have courage as a leader? To have the courage of your convictions, to stand up for something that you truly believe in. Courage to me is a value. Click To Tweet When people are living their values, rather than just saying they have a value of speaking their truth, and having no fear, and standing up for what they believe in, to me there is a really big difference between actually living out that value every day. I’ve seen it very often where a person will just lack the courage of their convictions. As a result of that, they may live with regret. They may, again, end up demotivating their work environment, the team environment, when all of that could have been avoided if they actually just spoke their truth.

I think that a lot of this happens because people often hide behind a veneer, and they don’t necessarily understand, as a leader, that it’s okay to be transparent, that it’s actually very attractive to be authentic and stand up for what they believe in. People will gravitate towards that. Think of the last time where you needed to make a bold decision, you needed to act with courage as a leader, you needed to make a tough decision. Whether it involved making cuts to your team, as painful as that might have been, or maybe it meant that you needed to take the business in a different direction, you needed to make a business decision that you’d never made previously, whatever it might have been.

You needed to go after a different customer base, because you realized that what you were doing was old school, or you were losing customers, and you recognized that you needed to capture that market share again, whatever it might have been. You said to yourself, “I really need to do this differently, if we’re going to sustain the business and we’re gonna grow the business.” It doesn’t matter what the issue is. It’s really important for you to be true to yourself, true to your team, true to your business, and act with the courage to make those tough decisions, because that is what great leaders do.

This article is a transcript from Why is Courage an Important Trait of Great Leaders YouTube.

The impact of a Stable Personal Life on Leadership Ability

December 20, 2018 by Michelle Ray

A key characteristic of great executive is to have a stable personal life, a balanced life. You may think to yourself, how realistic is that? Well, the best executives recognize that burnout is not the optimum state. They know how important it is to take time for themselves, to take care of themselves, to prioritize in their life the most important things: family, health, personal health, mental health, physical health, all the things that make them most productive. It’s not about working ourselves 14, 15 hours a day. It’s about realizing that the more balanced our lives are, the more effective we can be, the greater the difference we can make to our people at work and at home. So to be that great executive, we sometimes need to take an honest look in the mirror and see what needs to change, and if that’s you, the change can start right now.

This article is a transcript from The impact of a Stable Personal Life on Leadership Ability YouTube.

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