Creating a Winning Attitude at Work

Leaders improve their company by instilling confidence in each
employee's ability to meet and overcome workplace challenges.
Experience has taught us that confidence precedes competence.
A person in the office or a player in a game must first believe he
or she can succeed by developing a winning attitude reinforced
by skill-building practice.

As each person's talents are built into strengths and then merged
with others in the team, a positive energy emerges. This energy
force builds and reinforces each individual's confidence to create
a critical mass which is often referred to as "momentum" or "being
in the zone." It is the coach's job to keep the momentum going;
so as not to lose the positive energy flow.

Here is a checklist of ten questions to help you evaluate how well
your firm is building a winning attitude and the practiced ability to
succeed:

1. As the coach of your team, how much have you spent in the
past year on personal development to improve your management
and leadership skills?
2. List what time and money was spent per employee over the
last year in training and development activities to build on
workplace talents.
3. Does each manager have a good relationship with each direct
report and know what that person needs to move to the next
level in the firm?
4. Does each employee have a clear understanding of what they
can to do to increase their value to the company?
5. In the last six months, has someone in the company talked to
each employee about their progress in building skills and knowledge?
6. During the past year, how many employees believe they had an
opportunity at work to learn and grow?
7. How many employees would say that their opinions at work count?
8. How many employees know the vision or purpose of the company?
Of those who know, how many consider their job important in
accomplishing this vision or purpose?
9. How many employees would say that they have a best friend at
work?
10. Who would the employee go to with a suggestion, complaint or
concern at work?

For your team, the best thing you can do is to demonstrate your
leadership through one-on-one interpersonal relationships. You do
this by participating in respectful conversations where you recognize
your own feelings and those of others in building safe and trusting
relationships.

Here are four guiding principles for one-on-one respectful
conversations:

1. It's OK to begin a conversation by confronting the other person
with questions that seem awkward but set the stage for a respectful
exchange. Why waste time on small talk? Just ask to-the-point
information-seeking questions, like: "What are you here for? How do
you want to spend our time together?"

2. Conversations are not meant to be structured. Be open to
conversations that you are unprepared for and focused on the interests
of the other person (not your purpose).

3. Don't get pulled into solving problems that may not matter to the
other person. Allow time for the person to get to what's really important.
Provide spaces where people can express their doubts and fears by being
a thoughtful listener--without taking on the responsibility to fix or debate
the issue. After all, you have invited the person to talk about what
matters to her or him, not you, so allow time for the articulation of those
thoughts and feelings.

4. Personal transformation happens when the right questions get asked
--not by providing answers. When you focus on the solution, you are
trying to sell the person something. When you allow people to answer
their own questions, they discover what they were not aware of and
what is needed to move forward.

Confidence and energy are leading indicators of workplace performance.
Effective coaching can happen on the dance floor of conversation. You
build employee confidence and energy through conversations that pull
people toward becoming comfortable with personal responsibility and
commitment.
_________________________________________
John G. Agno, certified executive & business coach
Signature, Inc., PO Box 2086, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Telephone: 734.426.2000 (US Eastern Time Zone)
Email: mailto:johnagno@CoachThee.com

The most critical knowledge is self-knowledge.
http://www.MentoringandCoaching.com