Delegation

Missing the Boat on Leadership Skills

16 May
by Bridget DiCello

When you promote your best performer to a leadership position:

  1. Good things happen if they have been ready for the next challenge and maybe even a  little bored or burned out by the routine work they are so good at doing
  2. Bad things happen if they love the work they have been doing and you just added much work (the management) they do not like
  3. Negative repercussions occur when they have no desire to coordinate and lead the efforts of others and/or have no leadership experience, inherent skills or desire to work directly with employees
  4. The biggest challenges occur in the form of company stagnation and mediocrity when they do not possess the inner desire to develop other people and access their potential

Here are some skills that are very often missing as you promote or hire someone to management that you may need to purposefully work to develop:

  1. Communicate expectations effectively.  A manager must clearly formulate their expectations, and verbalize them in a way that makes sense to the employee.  The employee needs to be paying attention, and verbalize back what they have heard.  A head nod means the expectations may not even have made it to their ears, much less their brain to process, voice concerns and in the end – agree to do their best.
  2. Accountability – You can’t hold people accountable to what they didn’t agree to.  You must find a way to measure what you hope to hold people accountable for.  And then you must have the tough, but effective conversations when expectations are not met.
  3. Delegation – In order to effectively delegate, the manager must transfer ownership of the task.  This requires setting the expectation (see above), obtaining genuine agreement from the employee, setting a timetable and following up (see accountability).
  4. Engage in productive conflict –  ‘“Yes” employees’ appear agreeable, yet don’t produce.  Silent employees hope you will go away so they can continue doing things as they always have.  Strong, solid performers honestly believe they know better.  Quiet, undiscovered employees require conversations that push them, and probably the manager, outside their comfort zone.
  5. Setting goals – Managers are often good at accepting the goals set for them.  However, it is never as powerful to work towards something you feel you must do to keep your job than it is to engage the manager in conversation about their goals for their department or area, match those with the company goals, and include goals to help them professionally develop.  And, write them down.  What do your managers see as possibilities in their department?
  6. Project completion – Getting from where you are to where you want to be cannot be accomplished simply by working really hard and wanting to get there.  Ambitious goals require a plan that takes into account where we want to be in three months, and counting back to what we need to do each of the three months, this week and today; and do that daily.
  7. Coaching team members – probably the critical skill most often lacking – but assumed to exist in charismatic and inspirational leaders.  Coaching is having a series of conversations with an individual in order to connect with them, assist them to engage in their professional development, and to be able to discover their potential and accomplish more that they or you thought they could.

What professional development do your managers need from you?

Five Biggest Mistakes made by Successful Business Owners

19 Feb
by Bridget DiCello
  1. Not Following their Vision. A successful business owner sees possibilities, has strong opinions how things should be done and how the product or service should be delivered. Over time, that vision may get eroded due to obstacles, people who tell them their expectations are too high (employees, managers or peers), or getting plum worn out. No one sees the exact vision of an entrepreneur (yes, that can be a lonely place to be), but that also creates an extremely valuable niche and competitive advantage, which should not be ignored, buried or seen as too idealistic. It may not be achieved tomorrow, but if the owner remains the driving force, it will be realized! Their vision of the future needs to be shared, embodied in the written goals which are communicated to the team, and success measured against this vision regularly.
  2. They get bored.  Yes, despite all that is going on, successful business owners have an ongoing desire to innovate, intense drive towards a unique path, and a strong focus on improvement. Because of these factors, the owner may find themselves getting bored maintaining consistent business practices, accountabilities and adherence to quality standards – all necessary to run a successful business well. This is the point where they must have a team who can maintain the success they’ve created and still find time for the owner to innovate and drive new initiatives.
  3. Blinded by success. I would never assume that my four-year-old who plays soccer is the best he will ever be at the game. However, owners may tend to assume that as adults and professionals they have stopped growing. Sure, they may learn new technical skills, but they also need to be willing to work on themselves and their team members, even the star players, to grow professionally. Both successful owners and key team players must be challenged in order to not lose motivation, and this must be a purposeful activity.
  4. Forgetting their least favorite basics.  In order to start a business, you have to get a lot of things right, and not all of them are an individual owner’s favorite things to do consistently and purposefully. These might include:
    1. Hiring the right people, through a careful process
    2. Measuring performance and providing routine accountability
    3. Innovation in sales and marketing
    4. Providing structure to enable the team to be successful
    5. Watching the profitability and not just the growth in revenue
    6. Watching the top-line revenue and not just the profit margin
  5. Too much, or not enough, delegation.  Out of a desire for life balance after working so hard to bring the business to this level of success, owners may move too far out of the business, assuming their wonderful team can handle it without their leadership involvement. On the other hand, the owner may also desire to micromanage what is most important – often an area they may have a greater ability to execute than anyone on the team. Certain things need to be delegated, and others don’t. When tasks are delegated, certain reporting structures and accountabilities must be in place to ensure the owner still experiences the results they desire.

Has your level of success been stalled due to one of these mistakes?

Vision Meets Engagement

31 Jul
by Bridget DiCello

Successful companies are comprised of visionary leaders at all levels and engaged employees throughout the organization.  As a leader, there are many opportunities in your day and week to engage your team in seemingly small ways with powerful results.

 

 

If you desire to create a project plan, an agenda, a policy, a job description, a quality checklist, or document a process; as a leader you may be tempted to do it yourself.  Afterall, you know the information best, understand the big picture, and can probably do it faster than any team member. And you don’t have to take the time to delegate or hold them accountable.

 

 

The process of creating, even creating something like a policy that seems simple, can be energizing as well as provide a reality check. It often makes sense to delegate the creation of a draft document to a member of your team.

 

 

Reasons to delegate the draft:

 

 

1. The process of creating is empowering, fun and can energize your employees.

 

 

2. Asking someone to commit to paper what they believe they understand can be extremely revealing to them and to you regarding what they know and understand.

 

3. The employee who creates the draft has more buy-in to the product, even after you offer your insight, edits and make changes.

 

 

4. You may never take the time to do it yourself, even if you are quicker and more knowledgeable, and therefore it will not get done.

 

 

5. It keeps you from getting stuck in the details.  You can review and edit the draft with your big picture and visionary perspective, catching opportunities to improve the draft to more precisely make progress towards company goals.

 

 

So next time you are about to create something, ask yourself who on your team should be involved, and who will execute on it. Then ask them to draft it first. Be sure to tell them they are creating a draft, so they are not disappointed when you edit it. Then you can add your vision of what your team is capable of accomplishing to the draft. A true team effort!

 

Are you Happily Married to Your Business?

20 Apr
by Bridget DiCello

People say that there is no difference between ‘finished’ and ‘complete’.

I say there is…..

Marry the right person, and you’re ‘complete.’

Marry the wrong person, and you’re ‘finished.’

From aJokeaday.com.

This joke immediately made me think about business ownership.  Owning your own business has some parallels to marriage.  So does your business complete you or finish you?

A few secrets to a business that completes you are:

- Your tasks ‘fit’ you.

- You have a passion for what you are doing.

- You are using your talents and strengths where there is demand and profitability.

Your tasks ‘fit’ you. Do you enjoy the tasks you do on a daily basis?  Do you look forward to going to work and tackling your things to do list?  Granted, most business owners jump in and do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, given their dedication and investment.  However, you can enjoy jumping in when needed, knowing that your primary roles and tasks are those you enjoy.  And depending on the stage that your business is in, you may need to do some things that you don’t particularly enjoy until your business matures in certain areas.  For example, you might need to spend more time selling than you would prefer until the level of sales supports hiring that next salesperson.  However, if sales are not your favorite thing to do, you at least know that delegating those tasks is on the horizon.

You know you’re ‘finished’ if most of the tasks you do on a daily basis, you really wish someone else was doing, you’re not that great at them, and there appears to be no end in sight to this dilemma.

You have a passion for what you are doing. What energizes you?  What is it about your business that is incredibly exciting to you?  Or is it just a job?  Is your business something that you have a great deal of enthusiasm about and desire to dive in to, build, nurture and grow?  Are there multiple moments throughout the day and week where you feel totally fulfilled?

You know you’re ‘finished’ if you see your business as simply a job that has great potential to make you money.  But, on a daily and weekly basis, you feel more tired and overworked than you do energized.

You are using your talents and strengths where there is demand and profitability. Being passionate is only part of the picture.  I might be passionate about riding horses, but my talents and strengths are not nearly enough in this area to create a demand for my riding abilities.  There may be a demand for what you are passionate about, but are people willing to pay what it takes to be profitable in this area?  If you have no profit, you do not have a viable business, no matter how massive you can make your revenue numbers.

You know you’re ‘finished’ if you enjoy your work and do things that energize you, but selling the product or service is incredibly difficult, both because people are not real interested and those who are interested are not willing to pay a price that you must command in order to realize a profit.  If you cut your prices to extremely minimal or no profit margins to get the business going, you are definitely in trouble later as you try to turn a start up into a viable and profitable business.

What else is important to determine if your business completes or finishes you?

  • Think Growth!

    Subscribe to this weekly e-newsletter focused on growth strategy, building your business and leading your team.

    Click here to subscribe!

  • Testimonials

    Intense Gut Check

    “Bridget DiCello’s Leadership class was an intense gut check on how to do business. Business Owners, Executives, Non Profits, and Professionals can all benefit by learning how to manage teams and communicate effectively with employees. This has helped our company to bring up production and help increase the bottom line. Her classes and coaching have …

    Sane and Profitable!

    “Bridget has kept us sane and profitable! We hired Bridget to help us manage the chaos of our growing/successful Brand Marketing Agency when it was still in its infancy. She has provided guidance and solutions for: personnel hiring, management and motivation; time management and project coordination; profitability and goal setting; project/client delegation, etc. If you …

    To the next level…

    “Bridget is a value-add to any business! Her no nonsense approach to the world of business has been a huge reason for my success. Bridget is a class act who I trust to turn to whenever I have a dilemma in my business. I would highly recommend her services to any business owner or manager …

    Increased Productivity & Accountability

    “Bridget is a true expert in her field. Her methodology “clicked” with our corporate culture, enabling us to develop internal systems and safeguards that increased productivity and accountability of our staff. I would highly advise others to garner her services when needed.” – Gene Mangiante, Owner, Mangiante Photography