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Enhancing Your Leadership: The 8 Vital Traits You Must Embrace

As a leader, you must be a changemaker. To run your business or lead your team like you did twelve months ago is to set yourself up for some challenges. We need to stay agile and nimble and pivot when necessary. Doing so will help you recognize opportunities, address issues and prioritize your actions accordingly. The following leadership traits are the ones that you can focus on that will help you progress in your role:

1. VISIONARY:

Cultivate and communicate a clear and inspiring vision to help guide and motivate your team.

2. EMPATHETIC:

We all have different levels of emotional intelligence. Determine how to develop a deeper understanding of your team’s emotions and needs and respond with support.

3. ADAPTABLE:

Foster an environment for your team members whereby they are motivated by innovation and continued best practices to help them improve in their roles, which in turn will result in improved team and organizational results.

4. HUMBLE:

Acknowledge your limitations and share credit with your team members.

5. ACTIVELY LISTEN:

Be attentive in conversations, stop multitasking and give your full attention. When you are fully listening, you will be more able to be curious, ask clarifying questions, and seek to understand rather than give an answer or immediately solve a problem.

6. POSITIVE THINKER:

Some see a glass half full while others will see the same half empty. When we can demonstrate and practice optimism with our team members, they will, too. This will help develop resilience, enable you to take the emotions out of a situation, stick to the facts, and encourage a culture of optimism that will make it a better workplace.

7. RELIABLE:

When you are consistent and persistent in your actions, you will be known as reliable, and that, in turn, will increase the trust factor within your team.

8. GENUINE:

Nothing is worse than someone trying to be someone they are not. Be true to your values, communicate your expectations and be clear on the objectives and results you need in your team or business.

 

Want more support in your leadership journey? Book a complimentary 30-minute  consultation to find out how Jenny Reilly Consulting can help you. Or, please email askme@jennyreilly.com to coordinate a convenient consultation time.

 

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YOUR FOCUS IN QUARTER 3

As we enter Quarter 3 of 2022, it is time to reflect on how far you have gotten on your goals over the last six months, what has worked well, what has not, and what you will keep, start and stop doing. Make the next quarter matter. Continuous execution of small daily changes leads to tremendous results.

NARROW YOUR FOCUS IN Q3

As a business consultant, strategist, and executive coach, I work with successful companies and leaders who share a common practice of conducting quarterly reviews and previews.

By starting each quarter with an initial review, you are taking the time to set a benchmark and do a post-mortem on the past three months’ activity and results.

Analyze wins, identify ongoing challenges, and reflect on lessons learned. Evaluate what you will continue to focus on, what you will stop doing and new initiatives and priorities that need to be implemented.

After the review, you then move on to a preview of what is upcoming in the following 90-day period and identify priorities. These 90-day/quarter priorities ensure alignment and provide a transparent and clear focus.

 

‘You will either look back in life and say I wish I had, or I’m glad I did.’
– Zig Ziglar

 

QUARTERLY REVIEW PROCESS

  1. REVIEW your cash flow and identify your top five activities that provide you profit.
  2. ANALYSE your Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results, shortfalls and gaps. This activity will assist in the identification of areas that require your attention. Your KPIs drive your triple-bottom-line results and can often simply be viewed in terms of profit margin per:
    a.   employee
    b.   customer or client, and
    c.   production or delivery.
  3. IDENTIFY your core areas that can be improved upon to increase operational efficiencies. Quarterly process optimization goals are an excellent way to look at this with your team. Creating core processes saves time and provides standard operating procedures, combined with checklists that can reduce errors and increase efficiencies.
  4. REVIEW your long-term strategic initiatives and identify at least one that you can focus on in Q3 that aligns with your vision, will bring value to your team and stakeholders, and will add value to your customers and clients.

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU CAN DELEGATE THIS QUARTER?

Have you recently thought/said,

‘I don’t have enough time,’
‘There is too much to do,’
‘I never have enough time to focus on what is essential?’

If so, it’s time to evaluate how you spend your time and on what.

STEP 1.   List at least 20 things you do in your job or on a day-to-day basis, the more detail you have in your list, the better.

STEP 2.   Draw up a quadrant and in each box, write the topics you see on the image below.

Jenny Reilly Consulting | How To Delegate

STEP 3.   Of all the items you listed in Step 1, please put each one into the most relevant quadrant. Tally how many you have in each quadrant.

STEP 4.   Your objective should be to have most items in the top left quadrant. Everyone is more effective and productive when they work to their strengths and are engaged. If your quadrants are bottom-heavy, work towards making some changes and, when possible, delegate a minimum of one task per quarter to others where they may be a better fit.

 

‘The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.’
– Warren Buffett

 

QUARTERLY THINKING

ONE:   What do you want to accomplish by the end of Q3?

TWO:   How will you unwind, unplug and recharge to ensure you bring the best version of yourself to the job weekly?

THREE:   Identify three core professional areas of strength and three core areas of weakness. In Q3, aim to work more in your areas of strengths and do some professional development work in at least one area of challenge to help you improve in the job.

FOUR:   Identify at least five areas you can say ‘no’ to this quarter. One of my TEC members, Joseph Fry, Founding Principle of Hapa Collaborative, operates under a ‘hell yes’ or ‘hell no’ system when defining where he will spend his time. I love his energy and focus on working in areas that matter to the business.

 

If you have any questions about your quarter 3 review and planning or want to learn more about the powerful benefits of executive coaching to elevate your professional success, please reach out to +1 604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session. If you want monthly leadership and professional development tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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PERSONAL VISION

So many people go through life without a personal vision. If you are one of those individuals (don’t worry, I was too), it is not too late. The following questions will help you think about what your personal vision could look like. Your personal vision should guide you in all other aspects of your life.

  • If you could project ten years from today, where will you be, what will you be doing and who will you be with?
  • If you attain your vision, what would you be doing differently than you are today?
  • Will you commit to taking the actions needed to reach your vision?
  • What obstacles or challenges do you feel you may have to overcome to attain your vision?
  • What support do you need, and from whom to get started, stay motivated and keep accountable?
  • Have you shared your vision with anyone?
  • Share it, review it regularly and commit to moving it forward by continuous execution of ACTION.

 

‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’
– Mary Oliver

 

FIVE EASY STEPS TO YOUR PERSONAL VISION

  1. Develop a PERSONAL VISION – what do you want to do, where do you want to go and how do you
    want to feel? See it, feel it, imagine it.
  2. Set GOALS that will help you achieve your vision. Goals will help you identify actions required for execution. Prioritize your goals and define what you need to focus on per quarter moving forward. List the goals that you will work on through to completion next quarter.
  3. For each goal, PLAN the keystone actions required for every week of the quarter (12 weeks) to produce the results you are looking to achieve. When possible, list action items that can be completed within one week. These will drive your weekly and daily plans.
  4. Commit to working on the WEEKLY ACTIONS. Don’t lose traction. Even when you don’t feel like working on one of the actions, remain true to your commitments. Continuous execution of actions will ensure you retain momentum.
  5. Every Monday, spend 15-30 minutes conducting a WEEKLY REVIEW (what you focused on the week prior) and weekly preview (what you will focus on this week). Your weekly plan will help you map out the actions required in your schedule. Do not skip this step! This will help you MEASURE your weekly success and identify areas that need your attention and improvement.

 

WHAT DOES A GREAT WEEK LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

Our days are often taken up by items we have not planned or scheduled. To allow time in your schedule to work on priorities, I suggest you allocate three periods in your weekly schedule to increase your efficiency and enable greater focus on tasks required for goal attainment.

WEEKLY THREE-HOUR STRATEGIC BLOCK

This three-hour period is scheduled, not interruptible and prioritized in your weekly plan. During this time, turn your notifications off. Don’t answer the phone during this period, and if in an office, close your door. This time will require 100% of your focus and should never be bumped. It will help you dig deep into strategic activities and get things done.

TWO DAILY 30-MINUTE BUFFER BLOCKS

Schedule one 30-minute period in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Use this time to make/answer phone calls, return voice mail, answer/send emails, and deal with low-value activities.

WEEKLY THREE-HOUR FREE BLOCK

Use this time to get away from your computer and perform face-to-face activities. Lunch or coffee with colleagues/clients/stakeholders. This time helps you focus on priority relationships that require your full attention.

 

‘Unless commitment is made, there are only promise and hopes; but no plans.’
– Peter Drucker

 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

‘Once I have a holiday, I will have more energy.’
‘When we hire additional resources, we will be more organized.’
‘When the economy picks up, things will be better.’
‘Things will settle down after our busy period, and we will have more time to work on process improvements.’

Stop waiting for things to change. Make the change. You have control of one thing – your actions.

Take responsibility for the actions you take.

Commit to focusing on your actions to make your vision a reality, be self-accountable, and consistently execute on what needs to be done.

No more excuses, demonstrate your commitment – let’s get going.

BE IN THE MOMENT

Technology is excellent. However, how often do we get so distracted by it and forget to be in the moment? Alerts pinging, social notices, text messages… all take you away from being in the present. It is almost as though the fear of missing out outweighs social interaction conventions, whether in a professional or social setting. Being continually on is exhausting, stressful, and often a factor of burnout.

How much will you miss if you don’t look at your phone when you are in a meeting or when talking to one of your colleagues, clients, or stakeholders?

I encourage you this week to SLOW DOWN, be present and focus on one thing at a time. You will be surprised by how much you get done and how better you feel.

ACTION COMMITMENTS

Choose one thing that would make a significant difference if you did it daily in your professional or personal life.

Got it? Now commit to doing it daily for one quarter. The simple act of consistently executing on a critical action item that will help you be better in your job or personal life will benefit you fivefold.

 

‘There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.’
– Jack Welch

 

If you have any questions about personal visions, or want to learn more on the powerful benefits of executive coaching to elevate your professional success, please reach out to +1 604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session. If you want monthly leadership and professional development tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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