by
Jeannette L. Seibly
Powerful listeners
… they hear the spoken word as well as unspoken
thoughts.
Coachable.
Able to “listen
for the gold” in any interaction and have an
openness to learning something from
everyone.
Open to talking with
others about their own experiences and provide
“learning moments” for others’ growth
and
development.
A resource …
they know they don’t have all the
answers!
Relationship
builders. They don’t “burn bridges.”
They are continually improving their effectiveness in
working with and communicating with others.
Responsible for
establishing clear expectations, setting obtainable
goals, developing action plans and holding themselves
and others accountable for achieving them.
Supportive of others
and help them achieve their goals.
And....Proactively
looking for change, managing it, and using it as an
opportunity for themselves and others; they are not
sitting on the sidelines, waiting for life to
happen.
Copyright,
2001, Jeannette L. Seibly, SeibCo, LLC,
(JLSeibly@aol.com)
The
Boss has the Biggest Ego of
All
Not all of us are
born to be humble, and reining in our 'huge self' can
be a struggle. After all, feeling good about yourself
feels good!
As General
Electric's Jack Welch says, "Oh, hell, everyone in
this game has an ego." And so, abundant self-regard is
an affliction that has killed many a corporate career.
The excess ego can make you promise more than you can
deliver, fly too high, ignore other people. The big
ego can result in some bosses being classified as
boastful, blissfully ignorant and
imperious.
FORTUNE magazine
reports that bosses have to recognize that they have
an ego problem so they can exercise some self-control.
For illustration, the article, "Get Over Yourself" by
Patricia Sellers, looks at David Pottruck, the co-CEO
of Charles Schwab--who as a risk taker and visionary
pushed Schwab into its online strategy. But he
wouldn't be where he is today had he not confronted
his arrogance back in 1992. He was a rising star, but
he was also a know-it-all. He bulldozed into meetings
with all the answers. He made people feel small. One
day, his boss, then-president Larry Stupski, called
Pottruck into his office, sat him down, and slammed
him with shocking news. "He told me he and my peers
couldn't stand working with me," recalls Pottruck, 52.
"He said, 'You're overwhelming. Like a freight
train.'"
Pottruck was
devastated, enough so that he met with Terry Pearce,
an ex-IBM executive turned leadership coach. In
twice-monthly sessions, Pearce worked with Pottruck on
how to empathize, build consensus, lead without
dominating, and, most critically, listen. "Listen to
understand," Pearce instructs, "rather than to defend
position." Pearce's listening course in three quick
steps:
1. Pause ten seconds
before answering--try it, it's painful!
2. Ask a question to
clarify intent.
3. Respond with
feelings, as well as facts.
Over the years,
Pearce has changed Pottruck's view of what a true
leader is. "Ego should be quiet self-confidence, "
says Pottruck. "You know, you meet people who don't
fill a room, because they're comfortable with who they
are."
Just
How Big is Your Ego?
1.
Do you have your
name on a building?
2. Do you own a
sports team?
3. Do you talk about
yourself in the third person?
4. Do you have
vanity license plates?
5. Do you have a
designated seat on the company jet--or your own
jet?
6. Do you own
newspapers or other media properties?
7. Do you refer to
your net worth as "points on my
scoreboard"?
8. Do you have
photos in your office showing you with famous
people?
9. Do you have a
spouse/partner who was born after you graduated high
school?
If you answered
"Yes"
to:
7
to 9 questions:
You're a flaming egomaniac.
4
to 6 questions:
You're a big swinging ego.
0
to 3 questions:
You're egocentrically challenged.
Reprinted from
the April 30, 2001 issue of FORTUNE
magazine
Unstrung Heroes
Admired
executives who could stand a little
coaching:
Andrew
Grove,
chairman of Intel, once terrorized a meeting,
according to
Tim Jackson's book
Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the
World's
Most Powerful Chip
Company (Plume, 1998). Mr. Grove brandished a
piece
of wood the size of
a baseball bat, the end encased by a glove with the
middle
finger extended, and
slammed it down on a conference table, shouting "I
don't
ever, ever want to
be in another meeting with this group that doesn't
start and
end when it's
scheduled." An Intel spokesman said the company had
not
cooperated with Mr.
Jackson on the book and declined to
comment.
Bob
Levine,
cofounder of Cabletron Systems, used cameras to
monitor
employees' movements
and removed all chairs from company meeting
rooms.
Albert
Dunlap,
a.k.a. "Chainsaw Al," "The Shredder," and "Rambo in
Pinstripes,"
cut a swath through
corporate America (Scott Paper, Sunbeam), ruthlessly
cutting
costs. In his 1996
book Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and
Make
Good Companies Great
(Simon & Schuster), he recounted how once, while
visiting
an investment
banking house, he stormed out of the bathroom after
noticing they
weren't using his
company's brand of toilet paper and screamed, "I want
to see you
buying better toilet
paper!"
Reprinted from
the April 1, 2001 issue of RED HERRING
magazine.
Receive
our Podcast:
http://coachingtip.blogs.com/coaching_tip/rss.xml
or
get Free
Monthly Coaching
Tips!
by entering your name and email address
below:
Albert Einstein
once said, "We should take care not to make the
intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles
but no personality. It cannot lead; it can only
serve."
Leaders know and
science has discovered emotionality's deeper purpose:
the timeworn mechanisms of emotion allow two human
beings to receive the contents of each other's minds.
Emotion is the messenger of love; it is the vehicle
that carries every signal from one brimming heart to
another.
Leadership
happens in a series of interactive
conversations
that pull people toward becoming comfortable with the
language of personal responsibility and commitment.
That is why
leadership development is not an event. It is a
process of participating in respectful conversations
where the leader recognizes his or her own feelings
and those of others in building safe and trusting
relationships.
For human beings,
feeling deeply is synonymous with being
alive.
After
receiving leadership coaching tips for a year, here is
what three subscribers had to say:
"I have enjoyed
reading the tips. I find they provide insight in
dealing with both my personal issues, as well as, my
professional career. Many of them help when dealing
with employees. I think the tips will help anyone who
is interested in or already in a leadership position.
As leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher
standard, than we hold our subordinates, in order to
set the example we want them to work
toward."
"I have enjoyed
the self coaching tips and have used them in my own
internal corporate mentoring. I have also passed them
on to others because they are succinct and
beneficial."
"Self coaching
tips have helped me a lot. I have never missed one in
this one year. It does not take much time to read
them. It is short and informative. It has helped me to
understand myself and concentrate on my
improvements."
"I am constantly
amazed at how God seems to know JUST WHAT I NEED, and
very often your message is JUST WHAT I NEED at the
time. Thank you so much for making a difference in my,
and others' lives."
Subscribe to
low-cost daily
...or... weekly
success
secrets from world-class teachers...or...just
take
a 30-day test
drive.
Test
Drive
our daily leadership tips for only $3.95 for 30
days.
To develop your
leadership ability through one-on-one leadership
coaching, please visit: www.CoachThee.com
For more information
on mentoring and coaching, please visit:
www.MentoringandCoaching.com
For more on
mentoring and coaching tips, please visit:
www.MentoringandCoachingTips.com
To get to know
yourself better, please visit: www.SelfAssessmentCenter.com
Click for
information on self-directed
learning.
Click for suggested
reading to
become a more effective
leader.
Signature,
Inc., PO Box 2086, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 734.426.2000
www.CoachThee.com
back
to home page
