Leadership is Your job!

Leadership is one of the most studied and analysed subjects in the Academic and Professional world. There are over 185,000 book titles on leadership alone on Amazon, and every modern university around the world offers courses lasting years on the study of leadership. From across the world of sport, politics, the military and business, successful leaders are championed, are put on a pedestal and paid thousands upon thousands, to share their teachings and wisdom across the world.

If you study any successful business you will see that leadership has been one of the core components of that success. Yet it is not only the leadership of the founder, or CEO, yet the personal leadership of the individuals that make up the company. Having worked with teams and companies around the world, I know that leadership is so much more than at board level.

Leadership comes down to each individual in the company taking personal ownership and responsibility for the success and the direction the company is headed in. Traditionally, personal leadership has not been taught. Often we call these skills “intangible” in that some people appear to have them and others lack in the areas of self-motivation, personal responsibility, initiative and authentic self-belief. Yet these are ‘tangible’ skills that can be taught and can be improved and perfected. If an organisation is committed to results, then empowering and educating staff to be true leaders will lead to long term growth and success.

Business is changing, businesses have to be flexible and open to the challenges the modern, tech driven world brings. The old status quo of hard work and good products/services is gone. For businesses to truly succeed now, they need so much more. That begins with personal leadership for all those within your team, Employees and Management who are committed to excellence, both individually and as a whole.

Personal Leadership can be taught and can dramatically improve the results you get. If you want to grow and empower Personal Leadership within your company, then you need to address the DAC factor. Drive, Attitude and Confidence underpin the level of personal leadership that an individual has. Technical knowledge and skills training are only foundations for an employee’s success. The DAC factor is what we focus on to truly grow and develop leaders across all the organisations we work with. I challenge you, to analyse how you currently develop personal leadership and take action on ways that you can develop the vitally important skills for long term success.

If you want to discuss how we can work together to truly empower Personal Leadership through a program we have developed to impact change in organisations, please get in touch via facebook or susiemitchell.co.uk

Map the future you deserve through Goal Mapping!

It is widely accepted that goals play a huge role in the life of those who are successful. Having worked with individuals, teams and companies all over the world, I can categorically say that those who truly want to succeed and do, are those that commit to a process of regular goal setting.

Having said that, not all goal setting is equal. Not all goal setting is going to make the dramatic impact needed for you to significantly change the results you are getting. In most goal setting workshops, seminars and meetings, they only target the top layer of human desire and hence never truly create lasting impact or the significant shifts and trust me, I’ve been to many over the years!

There are ways to exponentially expand the power and impact that goal setting has, and it all comes down to activating and targeting the subconscious and your true potential.

Having spent over twenty years in the personal development field, I have heard a lot of different strategies and methods that claim to be “the best method” for setting goals and helping you achieve what you desire. Yet what I have also learnt, is that most goal “processes” are not designed to go deep into the subconscious and not truly connecting your brain, your heart and your future self.

A couple of years ago I was introduced to a system called Goal Mapping. I truly believe that this interactive processes will revolutionise your results and the quality of life that you lead. Goal mapping takes ancient wisdom and teachings (that we all know goals are important) and modern accelerated techniques into a holistic system designed for you!

Goal Mapping is different. It uses imagery (the language of the subconscious) to truly impact you and your future self, and, is the most powerful ‘life improvement’ tool for individuals and corporations. Having now worked with this system both in corporate environments and with individuals through workshops, I have seen the dramatic shifts that it enables people to create.

Whatever your desired outcomes are, I challenge you to explore the goal mapping system and making a decision to commit to the best goal setting practice. The goal mapping system can be utilised to achieve very specific outcomes to move you and/or your organisation forward.

To discuss how we can work together to enact change and get the results you deserve using Goal Mapping, please get in touch with me through susiemitcell.co.uk 

Use Emotional Intelligence to Increase your Team’s Effectiveness

I had a great time delivering a workshop in Chester this week titled “Use Emotional Intelligence to Increase your Team’s Effectiveness”.

Why do some highly qualified and apparently capable managers produce less successful outcomes than other seemingly less qualified individuals? The answer is often in their levels of Emotional Intelligence.

If you are a manager or leader in any capacity I highly recommend you develop your skill set around understanding, using and managing emotions, this will help you improve the quality of your communication and lead your team to achieve higher levels of success.

It was Daniel Goleman who first brought the term “emotional intelligence” to the forefront back in 1995. I recommend reading his book as a great introduction into Emotional intelligence:

“Goleman found that while the qualities traditionally associated with leadership—such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision—are required for success, they are insufficient. Truly effective leaders are also distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.” source

Read: Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ – Daniel Goleman

Amazon description:

The ground-breaking best-seller that redefines intelligence and success Does IQ define our destiny? Daniel Goleman argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow, and that our emotions play major role in thought, decision making and individual success. Self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, motivation, empathy and social deftness are all qualities that mark people who excel: whose relationships flourish, who are stars in the workplace. With new insights into the brain architecture underlying emotion and rationality, Goleman shows precisely how emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened in all of us.

Emotional intelligence has a huge impact on your professional success , in fact emotional intelligence it the strongest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership. By becoming more self-aware and improving your emotional intelligence it can impact in many areas, including:

• Become an Emotionally Resilient Leader
• Learn Enhanced Communication Skills to Strengthen Team Dynamics
• Develop Self Awareness and Empathy
• Manage Emotional States for Improved Outcomes
• Identify your ‘Triggers’ – Learn Specific Self-Management Strategies
• Harness Stress and Use it Productively
• Create High Levels of Resilience to Perform under Pressure
• Improve the Quality of ALL your Meaningful Relationships

 

If you would like to be notified of my next workshop into Emotional Intelligence leave me a comment below.

 

 

Are you the best ‘people magnet’ you can be?

Learn to be an expert about connecting with people, if you can master the art of turning contacts into relationships in business, as well as life you will have unlimited success. Establish common ground with people to initially first connect, after trust builds, the relationship will move to a deeper level. 

WOW! THEM TO WOO THEM

The secret is to give value first. The power of building the strongest relationships you can have is to have other people wanting to connect with you! Magic words are ‘What can I do for you?’ stop thinking in the terms of ‘I’ and ‘me’.

BECOME THE DETECTIVE

As you arrive at the event/place of connection, capture and take in the surroundings on all senses.

Look around for visual signs that may help build the conversation, lie pictures, awards, desk items if it is someone’s home or place of work. If an event, notice who is talking to whom, signals that can lead you to who you need to speak to.

Once you have made the connection, use your listening skills to hone in on specific areas of interest, and powerful questions to get the person talking about themselves, to revel personal things you can build on now, and in the future. (Long term relationships is the true art of networking)

Before moving onto the next person, exchange business cards, and write down some personal points for the future.

 

When you embody and become your best, most enthusiastic, charismatic version of yourself you’ll find that people will be uncontrollably and magnetically drawn and attracted to you. – source

Are your thoughts, and therefore your attitude the most positive they can be?

No one will be attracted to someone who us negative, act confident (even if you don’t feel it), smile, make eye contact and have a confident, firm handshake. Courage is like inflicting yourself; it gains momentum every time you take ownership of it! Practise makes perfect, get out there and dazzle people with your magnetic personality !!!

Create a nurturing culture in the workplace

Your employees are your greatest asset! Therefore it makes sense to invest in them & create the BEST workforce you can have!

Does your workplace allow your employees to be energetic and alive? Are there enough opportunities being created to allow them to reach out & take ownership of their own personal growth? Take a step back and imagine what your employees would like to see happening that allows them to use their own initiative & improve their own skills & learning. What support are staff given with new challenges? Tap into your employee’s talents and unleash their potential in new ways that benefit both you and your business.

Ensuring that there is a connection between individual, team & department goals with those of the company is a winning strategy. Creating a nurturing culture does take consideration and time but the long-term goals far outweigh a one-off fundraiser or “dress-down Friday”. Investing in your employees will develop acommitted, passionate workforce who will deliver your long-term goals and move you closer to realising your own vision.

Are you providing the following opportunities?

– to increase staff morale & well-being

– to increase skills

– to get involved in decision-making & setting goals or targets with others

– to empower staff by giving them more responsibility and/or accountability

– to provide regular feedback on their performance and targets

– to assist staff in turning things around & be positive when things go wrong

– to get to know each others’ strengths & weakness to improve team performance

– to inject fun in the workplace

It is true that there is a risk element that staff will leave, however it could also be argued that if staff are not developed or nurtured then the business will, in effect, not grow. Is it not better to invest in people and assist them in getting qualifications or a better skill set that then benefits the credibility of the business too?

Developing people is about creating opportunities to help them grow. Nurturing people goes a little deeper – a culture where people are supported with personal and professional growth opportunities; where reflection, evaluation and support play a key part in coping when there are mistakes or failures. A nurturing culture does not mean pandering to every need but it does mean giving time, care, support and positivity. A positive attitude can nurture optimism, motivation & success in others as well as yourself.

What are your thoughts on a creating a nurturing culture in the workplace?