This is a bit different than what I normally post. But we want to hear from you.
 
Email us here and let us know what challenges you are facing, what issues you need help addressing, and what topics interest you in general. Be as specific and detailed as you like. We read each email we receive.
 
Feel free to share your story, ask your question, or vent if needed. We are here to help. Just let us know.
 
Not sure what to share, try some of these for starters.

1. I am most interested in…
2. I am extremely passionate about…
3. Here are my struggle areas I need help with…
4. I would like to know more about…
5. In my spare time, I enjoy…
6. One of my greatest mentors encouraged me by… to…
7. I started my business in… because…
8. I love leading others because…
9. Mentorship is so important to me because…
10. Anything else you want to talk about…

 
Feel free to start anywhere and go any direction. There are no rules, no limitations, no constraints. This is all about you.
 
I look forward to getting to know you more.
 
Until next time,
Jared

Last week I discussed the transition from employee and peer to small group leader. As time goes on, another promotion may be in order for any number of reasons – organizational growth, retirement, and so on. Some organizations promote their employees but take them to other departments to lead new teams. This requires the leader and team to work to develop as a cohesive element, build comradery, striving towards success as the newly found team.
 
Many organizations will promote from within, taking someone from within the team and making them in charge of the whole team. The once peer, now leader, is about to take on another journey – leading other leaders. What does this look like? How does the new leader successfully lead this team, consisting of subordinate leaders and employees?
 
As with last week, there are a number of ways to do so. Here are a few tips to help make the transition smoother and more successful.

1. You are the chess master. This is a throwback to a post from July 2016. Leading a team, especially a growing team, is about knowing each players (members) capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Knowing these allows you, as the leader, to successfully make your move with your team. Each person has a part on the team and should be leveraged accordingly.
2. Utilize your subordinate leaders. They are in their position for a reason, so use them. They are skilled, talented, and capable leaders who must be utilized as valuable members of your team. Provide training, advice, direction, and counsel as needed to help build them into more effective and successful leaders.
3. Delegate. This relates with being the chess master. Ensure that you delegate and follow-up with your team, especially your subordinate leaders.
4. Mentor. As the leader, you must mentor your subordinate leaders. Teach them. Demonstrate what it takes to be a good leader, to motivate and inspire others to achieve more.
5. Be available. This goes hand-in-hand with delegation. If all of your time was occupied with completing tasks that could be delegated, you will not have time to mentor, train, inspire, or strategize. Delegating frees up time for you to serve others and be available for them. So, make sure you are available.
6. Be accountable. Hold yourself and others accountable for what you and they say will be done. Be firm, swift, but fair. Just remember that they are watching you too. If you say you will do something, then don’t, you will lose credit. Period.
7. Show grace. You are dealing with a larger group of people with more issues combined than you can imagine. Some are personal and some are professional. The more you and your subordinate leaders understand your team, the more you can appreciate their concerns and issues. Once you do, you can make more effective decisions. Remember, be firm, swift, but fair, and show grace.

 
What other tips and tactics would you provide? What else would you like to see us write about? Share with us here.
 
Until next time.
Jared

Effective communication is essential to leading a team successfully. From a business perspective, effective communication may very well be the difference between obtaining or retaining clients and customers – or not. What about non-profits? Yup, communication is key here as well. Communication is important everywhere – business, non-profits, family, grocery store – everywhere. Communicating effectively to your team is just as important (more important?) as communicating with your clients, customers, and volunteers.
 
What is effective communication?
 
Effective communication is different from person to person and team to team, and really depends on the stage the team of people are in. Tuckman’s stages of group development of forming, storming, norming, and performing, increase the ease of effective communication over time. Teams in the forming stage need to communicate clearly, more frequently, and perhaps in more detail to ensure the message is understood. As the team grows together closer to the performing stage, each member learns how the other communicates, including body language, written, and oral communication, making communication easier and quicker.
 
At some point, teams may not even need to communicate as they are so in tune with each other that they know what the other is thinking or will do before it even happens. Military special operations units such as the Army Special Forces or Navy SEALS are a great example of this. A simple look, hand gesture, or mutual understanding of what to do in certain situations increases the ease of communication (of course these guys have trained for years together to get to this point).
 
But you don’t need to be a Navy SEAL to communicate effectively.
 
How do we communicate effectively?
 
Communicating effectively requires an understanding of what is being said. To ensure understanding, the communicator needs to confirm that what was said was actually heard. This can be done by validating what was said. There are many ways to do so, but these 3 are quite effective:

1. Asking the listener (recipient) to repeat what was said
2. Asking the listener to say in their own words what was just told to them
3. Ask clarifying questions (the sender of the message and recipient)

Of these 3 options, the last 2 are the best as it requires the listener to provide responses in their own words, increasing their chance of truly understanding what was said. So, make your statement, apply the 1 (or all) of the 3 validating questions, and go from there.
 
Next week I will discuss how this can help your team, grow your clients, and delight them with effective communication.
 
Jared