I found Blogger Kevin Sinclair’s article on The Key to Successful Leadershipvery interesting. Kevin brought up the question, are leaders born or made? The old adage states that leaders are in fact born. Kevin and I both agree and disagree. Kevin writes, “Anyone can learn to become a leader, and be a successful one at that….the key is learning. Leadership is a process, one that requires learning and understanding.”

I really appreciate Kevin’s perspective that a successful leader is one who is willing to keep learning and understanding. He writes, “They have an understanding, that in order to be successful you must take what each day gives you and learn from it and grow. Being a successful leader simply requires that you never stop learning. I have always believed that the day you stop learning is really the day you stop living. In business, they day you stop learning is the day that your business stops growing.”

Are you a leader or manager in your career? If so, do you find yourself consistently learning and trying to understand or are you bored? If bored, I suggest coaching yourself with questions to figure out what your road block is and take some action steps. If you are thinking of transitioning, I suggest first clearing the roadblock and seeing if your passion for learning and understanding accelerates. If you need help, contact me.

If you asked for my opinion about transitioning, I’d ask you the following questions and put them in a ‘Career FIT Plan.’ I believe all career managers (all employees) would find a lot of value from updating their answers to the questions below on a consistent basis:

• What are your key strengths?
• What do you love doing?
• Which core values must be present for you to be your best in your work?
• Life purpose - Why do you work?
• Identity - Who are you becoming?
• Personality Type - What are your natural tendencies?
• How can you make your current company culture fit you better?

Whether or not you are thinking about transitioning into a new position, I’d be glad to give you a complimentary, confidential consultation. You can contact me at terri@summitviewcareercoaching.com

“You’d think that people making $200K+ per year would have tremendous job satisfaction. They’ve been selected for challenging roles and are well compensated for their expertise. But a recent ExecuNet survey reveals, disturbingly, that 48% of executives with an average salary of $221K are dissatisfied, and 52% think they’ll leave their company within the next 12 months,” Louise Kursmark wrote in a recent blog.

There are several reasons employees look to leave. One of the reasons could be a wrong fit. What are hiring managers looking at when they hire a candidate? Are they hiring employees that fit well the position? Are hiring managers seriously looking at a candidate’s key strengths, interests, core values, life purpose, identity and personality trait that fit well with the position and company culture?

How does a hiring manager know about the six key areas of a person mentioned in the previous paragraph? To successfully hire, the process normally takes a lot of time including observation by the candidate of the position, being able to ask questions of the employees and completing assessments. The hiring manager needs to ask first-rate questions, talk to people that know the candidate, conduct a variety of interviews, review completed assessments, etc

If you have questions on leadership or career management, write me and I’d be glad to answer them in a future blog.

Since the #1 reason most people quit their jobs is because of conflict with their boss, I see Conflict Management as an important leadership and career issue.

We all tend to handle conflict predominately with one out of five methods. The first method I wrote about last week (under leadership) that some people tend to use is ‘competing.’ Competing is when one person is assertive and uncooperative so that their concerns are satisfied at the other person’s expense. There are proper times for us to handle conflict with the competing method. (For more info, look under my last blog on leadership for last week.)

The second method I’m sharing now is on ‘collaborating.’ Collaborating is trying to find a win-win solution that completely satisfies both people’s concerns. The benefits of collaborating are:

• High-quality decisions
• Learning and communication
• Resolution and commitment
• Strengthening relationships

Costs…

• Time and energy required
• Psychological demands
• Possibility of offending
• Vulnerability risk

There are appropriate times to choose to handle conflict with the competing or collaborative method. I will be writing on the last three methods of conflict management in my next leadership blogs. If you have any questions or comments, please write me a comment!

This information comes from “Introduction to Conflict Management” by Kenneth W. Thomas. I will be giving a presentation on Conflict Management and these five methods on December 4th at the Chamber of Commerce, Business & Education Track.

In my latest leadership blog I talked about five methods of handling conflict. According to Kenneth Thomas, author of “Introduction to Conflict Management,” all five methods are recommended to be used at various times, depending on the situation.

I have found this information helpful. For instance, when I was having a conflict with someone the other day, I thought through which method of the five would be best for me to use…not only did my reaction slow down, but I reacted to the conflict in a healthy, positive way. I have found this tool beneficial!

The five methods of Conflict handling are:

1. Competing
2. Collaborating
3. Compromising
4. Avoiding
5. Accommodating
   

The first method, “Competing,” is assertive and uncooperative. You try to satisfy your own concerns at the other person’s expense. It is recommended when:

• Imposing or dictating a decision
• Arguing for a conclusion that fits your data
• Hard bargaining (making no concessions)

Benefits of “competing” are:

• Asserting your position
• Possibility of quick victory
• Self-defense
• Testing assumptions

Costs of “competing” are:

• Strained work relationships
• Suboptimal decisions
• Decreased initiative and motivation
• Possible escalation and deadlock
  

More information on the five methods of conflict management coming next week…

I will be conducting a seminar on this subject December 4th at the Chamber of Commerce’ Business & Education track. To purchase Kenneth W. Thomas’ book, “Introduction to Conflict Management,” order at 1-800-624-1765.

As a strategic, results-oriented high energy coach and trainer, I specialize in moving forward leaders, career transitioners and graduates. I have found a roadblock for many in reaching goals within their current employment are conflicts with a boss or co-worker, mostly with bosses.

“Surveys show that managers spend about a quarter of their time handling conflicts” according to Kenneth W. Thomas in Introduction to Conflict Management.

What is the best way to handle conflict? According to “Intro to Conflict Management” there are generally five methods we all use in handling conflict. Each person tends to handle conflict with a consistent primary and secondary method. Thomas recommends at the beginning of a conflict that we look at all five methods and choose to handle conflict with the method that would seem to work best, depending on the situation. Quite a challenge Thomas is giving us! I’ll write more later on the five different methods….