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leadership skillset

ONE LEADERSHIP SKILL CEOS NEED TO DEVELOP MOST THAT’S NOT WHAT THEIR DIRECTORS THINK IT IS

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As a CEO, business owner, or entrepreneur, there’s always something you can improve in your skills arsenal. Yet, the one leadership skill you realize you need to develop most is not what your director thinks it is. 

Which causes a bit of a conflict between what you want to pursue for professional growth and what “your bosses” say you need to get better at doing.

The One Leadership Skill Conflict

You definitely have in-depth knowledge of your company, industry, and good ideas about how to accomplish long-term goals. That’s likely what won you your leadership role in the first place.

Yet the skill your director thinks you need a boost with most is mentoring or developing others.

But, in truth, you know you’re really looking for a way to be a better communicator. Someone who can effortlessly and effectively manage conflict.

Why the Discrepancy?  

Think of the gap between what your directors say you need and what it is you know you need as a conflict of interest, in a way.

Directors are in play to ensure your company’s strategies are followed and objectives are met. They analyze and monitor employee progress towards achieving goals and meeting or surpassing set targets.

You, on the other hand, are in the business of managing your greatest company asset.

People. Teams. Front-line workers.

Balancing Company And Team Member Needs

Of course, your job is to make sure the right people are in the right seats to get the job done.

However, you have to balance that job with that of taking care of humans.

Humans who naturally disagree. Who have conflicts with other team members. Or have a problem with their growing list of assigned duties.

And, they avoid talking about. But it most definitely affects their performance.

So, it’s your job to help resolve the conflicts they have. Be they internal limiting beliefs, or external stressors or triggers.

What One Leadership Skill Do You Focus On?

In my professional opinion as an executive leadership coach, the choice on where to focus is a simple one.

Conflict resolution, especially in today’s climate, is essential to lead and grow strong teams. And, it’s one that takes precedence over mentoring others.

I’m not saying that both of these skills aren’t important.

What I am saying is that if you have team members in constant conflict, expressed or suppressed, you won’t have much of a team left to mentor or develop if it’s not resolved.

Being a strong resolver of conflicts allows you to build deep trust with your team. It allows your people to feel safe to come to you when something isn’t working knowing that ultimately your goal is to support them to resolve that conflict.

Final Thoughts On Conflict Resolution

Who do you think will fare better?

A leader who knows there’s conflict in and among their team and does nothing?

Or, one who does all they can to acknowledge and resolve conflict before it has a chance to permeate the rest of the team and affect the company’s performance?

For directors reading, understand this. Company goals are met by harmonious teams. And, it’s easier to mentor and develop future leaders when your team turnover rate is low.

And, as for you leaders, drop me an email at judy@growstrongteams.com if you need some insight on addressing conflicts within your team. I’m here for you.

3 ESSENTIALISM STEPS TO HELP LEADERS FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS

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EVEN IF TIME REGULARLY ESCAPES YOU

What if I told you that in order to do more as a leader, you need to do so much less? This is not just about delegation. It’s about adopting essentialism steps you need to get the right things done.

While you’ve likely heard pieces of this advice on how to focus before, author Greg McKeown has a way of weaving it all together in a way that makes sense. 

If this article grabs your attention, dive deeper inside his book on the topic here.   

FIRST, A WORD OF CAUTION

“Yes” men and woman, you’re going to find this process a little disturbing.

While there are many reasons you’re likely not setting boundaries against non-essential things on your to-do lists, if you want to adopt essentialism, you’re going to need to start.

So, if you can cast aside your need to be “liked,” your sense of “value” being linked to getting everything done, and your drive to become “irreplaceable,” essentialism gets to become so much easier.

Without further ado, here’s where you need to place your focus if you want to shore up your time and mental bandwidth to produce the best possible outcomes.

STEP 1 – EXPLORE AND EVALUATE 

This step takes time. 

Purposeful time. 

Deliberate time.

Think about it like this…

If you’re only going to engage your time and energy into the things that are going to move the biggest levers for you, it’s going to take a dedicated effort to know which “things” fit those categories.

Because once you spend the time figuring out what matters most, you’re going to fully commit to them.

So much so that if something comes up for you “to do” that isn’t on the shortlist, you’re automatic response gets to be no. And it’s a no because it doesn’t fit your definition of the highest and best use of your time or skills. 

This step is as much about giving yourself permission to do less as it is digging out why you feel so compelled to say yes to everything in the first place. 

STEP 2 – ELIMINATE

If Step 1 was hard for you as a people-pleasing, doer-of-everything, this step is going to be even more difficult…

You’ve done the thinking. You know what you’re fully committing to going forward.

Now, it’s time to get out that great big laundry basket and sort your brights from your whites.

Yes, it’s time to start thinking in terms of what “fits” the category of “will” and “won’t” when it comes to reaching the goals you set.

And, you’ll have some hard decisions to make. Because you won’t want to hurt anyone else’s feelings or let other people down. But, here’s the reframe in all that.

If you don’t decide how you allocate your time, someone else will fill up your calendar for you with their own agenda. Doesn’t it feel much more empowering to create your own instead?

This step will make you painfully aware that you are not superhuman. You only have so many waking hours in your day. Choose those things that are “essential” to feeling your best and fulfilling your purpose.

The rest can fill up someone else’s calendar.

STEP 3 – EXECUTE

This is the step that the project and operations managers in the crowd actually love. But in truth, everyone should enjoy this part.

If you’ve done the work in steps 1 and 2, you’ve basically cleared your “to do” list of all the things that feel like distractions and marginal to your “big lever” goals.

Now, instead of the “barrel through it” mentality, you’ll have the time and space to get more done. Found time on your calendar from only doing what’s essential to you makes this your new reality.

Piles of things that are partially complete will disappear. As will the stress you feel being under the gun to deliver loads of projects over the finish line all at the same time.

You’ll likely feel much more joy in your day to day “doing” because of it. And, even if you’re not prone to checklists or systems, you’ll end up developing a process for each of the projects you are working on. Ultimately, it’s because you’ve made space mentally to figure out the logical path to completion.

MAKING THESE ESSENTIALISM STEPS YOUR NEW NORMAL

It all seems good on paper, right? Essentialist thinking doesn’t have to live in your “nice in theory” bucket though.

All it takes for you to win back your time and your focus is following the three “E” steps.

  • Explore and evaluate  
  • Eliminate
  • Execute

Choose to do that, and you’ll spend far less time getting more done. And if you could use some help in any of these three stages, schedule a free strategy session with me to get into action.