professional development

How to Improve Team Engagement – A Leadership challenge

January 17, 2019 by Michelle Ray

How to improve team engagement. The burning question on the minds of so many leaders today.
What are you struggling with when it comes to keeping people engaged in their work? Do we understand why it is that people become disengaged? And what does it mean when people are disconnected and disengaged and disinterested? The consequences can be immeasurable.

In order to keep people engaged, we need to realize that it’s all about people wanting to do their work rather than feeling as though they have to do their work. When people demonstrate discretionary effort, then they are highly likely to wanna keep on demonstrating that discretionary effort.

That’s because they are connected to what they are doing. They are genuinely enjoying what they are doing. And I can’t imagine that there are leaders out there who wouldn’t want that for their teams.
So if we are gonna truly engage our teams, we need to realize that we need to be engaged ourselves, and we need to understand that that is what our teams are looking for in their leaders.

So remember: to have an engaged team, we need to be able to connect with people. When you show people the purpose of what they’re doing, and point them in the direction that they are focused on that purpose, they will feel more connected and they will feel more encouraged to be supporting your vision for your business and helping them to realize their own vision as well.

This article is a transcript from How to Improve Team Engagement – A Leadership challenge 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

What is Leadership Development?

December 13, 2018 by Michelle Ray

So what is leadership development, and why is it important to your organization and the success of your business? Some people might say, “We’ve got to get more customers, we’ve got to find the best talent, the best employees.” In my view, all that is critically important. However, nothing matters as much as who you decide to develop as a leader, because it is the leaders that create the atmosphere, that mentoring your team that are making ideally the best decisions that have incredible influence on whether or not people feel motivated to stay in a job.

If your leaders don’t have the essential competencies to be successful, it really does start with you to make the best decisions and the best choices in terms of who you decide to put in those roles, and how you develop them.If you put the wrong people into the wrong role especially, thinking that they have the ability to be a great leader, that is going to cost you down the line. It’s going to cost you in terms of talent retention. It’s going to cost you in terms of lose productivity. It’s going to cost you in terms of low morale. So you need to make sure that you understand that you have the right people in place, and that when you decide to develop them, you’re investing wisely in your time, in your energy and everything associated with creating the best leaders that you can.

This article is a transcript from What is Leadership Development? YouTube.

The art of asking questions – Your biggest communication asset

October 8, 2015 by Michelle Ray

Mark always prided himself as an exceptional negotiator and communicator, yet during a recent performance review with an employee, he was accused of reneging on a promotion offered during a conversation several months prior. Mark recalled the initial discussion, however both parties had a different understanding regarding the timeline for the promotion to take effect. His employee requested that a union representative also attend the performance review and Mark was informed in advance that a grievance would be filed should the matter remain unresolved.
[Read more…] about The art of asking questions – Your biggest communication asset

Three strategies to respond positively to negative feedback

June 30, 2015 by Michelle Ray

“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar”…Anon

If you have ever been at the receiving end of criticism, either from a co-worker or manager, it is likely you have found yourself struggling to respond positively…or worse, have defaulted to apologizing when you have done nothing wrong. Even if the criticism is warranted or offered inappropriately, you cannot control the other person’s intention, words or delivery. What you can do is respond in a positive fashion while maintaining respect…for yourself and the bearer of disparaging comments. Whether the feedback pertains to your work, your relationship or a specific situation that transpired between both parties, your goal is to rise above the negativity and respond, rather than react. [Read more…] about Three strategies to respond positively to negative feedback

Why New Year Resolutions Fail: Five ways to lead yourself in 2015

December 31, 2014 by Michelle Ray

re·solve verb \ri-ˈzälv, -ˈzȯlv also -ˈzäv or -ˈzȯv\ :To make a definite and serious decision to do something.

Eat less. Exercise more. Get a new job. Start a savings plan. Ditch your partner…whatever lofty goal you decide to set for yourself, it is likely you will give up before the first month of 2015 comes to an end, if not sooner. Sadly, the statistics aren’t good. Although millions will start the year with the best intentions, only eight percent will achieve their new year’s resolutions.

How does one explain the fact that year after year, the vast majority who set resolutions succumb to the comfort of the status quo?

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