Don’t Settle: Get The Career You Want

Reflections for a Brighter Career Path

As we usher in the new year, my hope is that you are returning from your holidays well rested and looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. Too often the holidays are a short “breather” from people’s relentless, high-pressure job… hoping they can cope until their next vacation.

You would be surprised how many of my clients feel out of place and overwhelmed in their careers. They dread their “daily grind” at work because it is either too demanding, too unfulfilling or somewhere in between. History tells them that their mountain of workplace activities are rarely followed by valleys of rest, and the hectic pace takes a toll on their professional and personal lives. This is not something that more sleep, better nutrition or moderate exercise can fix. It’s the fact that they have settled and accepted their “grind” in order to maintain a certain lifestyle that is expected or desired.

To help my clients manage that hectic pace, we often start by profiling their personality and discovering their fundamental needs and wants. Using the Birkman Method—which establishes their requirements for specific factors such as esteem, structure, authority, empathy and change—clients discover what motivates (or hinders) them to becoming a top performer. In the end, by understanding their underlying needs, my clients make better decisions. This might lead to small changes at work or more radical ones. But they key is they have taken the time to reflect on what makes them feel accomplished and will therefore base future decisions—projects to accept, how to deal with their boss, etc.—on meeting THEIR needs in the long term.

So, the question comes back to you: Are you returning from the holidays revitalized or reluctant? If your answer is the latter, I’ve put together a few items for you to reflect upon. My hope is that it might give you some insight into making better decisions at work.

1. Define what success means to you. Success means so many things to so many different people. For some, it’s their job. For others, it’s their family, money, health, etc. If you wrote your own eulogy today, would you say that you have achieved success? Are you happy with your lot in life? And if not, what is it that would make you happier or more successful?
2. Understand your work-life balance. Working at a demanding, but well paying job might allow you to own a large house, enjoy several vacations a year, and live “comfortably”, but what if it comes at the expense of your family, friends or health? Is your current work-life balance sustainable? If not, what needs to change?
3. Does your workplace culture align with your needs? A highly accomplished friend confided that her new job was awful: even thought it paid well, the division in which she worked had an antagonistic culture with minimal accountability. We spend a lot of our life in a job. Enjoying work—or at least not hating work—is something we should all strive for.
4. Ask yourself what you want to do in five years? After several decades in the high tech world, I determined that coaching high performers was where I got my greatest sense of satisfaction. Slowly I moved from training and mentoring teams within my roles, to taking the big leap, going back to school, and becoming an independent leadership coach. Maybe you don’t have to make such a drastic change, but understanding where you want to be will identify what technical or soft skills you need to pick up in order to get to the next stage in your career.

To your Success… However You Define It!

January is a great month to think about your work situation. There are many tools you can use to reduce stress and get you through the hectic times. However, if you’re caught in the grind, it’s not too late to change your ways. In the immortal words of Steve Jobs: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

I hope that you have the opportunity to step back, reflect and if needed, to make the changes required. Whether you change jobs, upgrade your skills, tweak a few habits or totally reinvent yourself, you own the keys to your success.

Have you made changes that have made a difference in your life? I encourage you to share the secrets of your success to the rest of the community in this newsletter. Or better yet, join me in my free webinar, Defining Career Success.

Until then, be amazing! 

Free Webinar: Defining Career Success

• Feb 19^th, 2015 at 12:00pm EST (English)
  
• 20 février, 2015 à 12:00 HAE (Français)
• 45 minutes

Reap the Rewards of a Successful Career by Design, not Chance!

Most of my clients are very accomplished. Moving from one opportunity to the next, they have achieved success by following the doors that have opened in front of them. This has been a beneficial strategy for many until they reach a certain point in their life—often their 50s—and realize that despite their achievements, they are not where they thought they would be in their career. By following the path presented to them, they are frustrated, overwhelmed or simply unhappy with their current location.

Presented by Ottawa-based leadership coach Denis Lévesque, Defining Career Success is a free, interactive 45 minute webinar, where participants can explore what career success means to them and how they can focus their career on achieving long term success. Participate and you will:

• Understand your needs at work and their impact on your work experience.
• Identify your core values and effects when they are not aligned with workplace values.
• Recognize your career destabilizers and how to avoid them.
• Learn how to focus your decisions to map out your career path.
• Use your “eulogy” as a tool to focus your career.
• Write an action plan to start the process!

This engaging webinar will include a Q&A session. After the webinar, you have the ability to match up with an accountability partner to help you get started with your action plan and achieve your goals.

We will also have a draw for a free Birkman Debrief with Coach Denis, a $700 value! Registration is free! To participate, register here or email Denis directly.

About Denis

Denis Lévesque, is owner of Big Dashan, a leadership coaching, training and speaking firm. He helps those who feel stuck, bored or overwhelmed at work, build the clarity, confidence and passion they need to achieve their goals. With over 21 years of business experience, Mr. Lévesque helps rising talent improve their performance and their organization’s effectiveness and profitability. Fluent in both English and French, he holds a Bachelor of Commerce (U Ottawa), has obtained his Certified Executive Coach (Royal Roads U) and Professional Certified Coach (International Coaching Federation) designations.

Think Before You Drink More Kool-Aid!

How re-thinking can increase your productivity

Thinking outside the box. Teaching old dogs new tricks. Professional development. These are all terms that emphasize the importance of change when looking for continued success. Being flexible and integrating new behaviours is how the very best remain on top in today’s fast-paced world.

“Drinking the Kool-Aid”—the concept of someone’s unquestioned acceptance of a behaviour or process without scrutiny—is what many companies encourage of their employees in order to fit into their culture and be productive. It’s a great way to promote teamwork and achieve results based on previous accomplishments. Yet it often stymies long term productivity.

Too Much Kool-Aid?

When I was at Nortel, I heard a story which exactly illustrated this point. A senior mentor told his new hire he needed to stay five years with Nortel to fully understand their complex procedures. However, if the new hire stayed more than eight years, the mentor said he’d become brainwashed with Nortel’s way of doing things. The Nortel “chip” would be implanted in his brain, making the new hire unable to think outside of the Nortel box, and therefore limit his creativity.

Recently, I encountered a similar issue. A corporate client was rolling out new company-wide expectations to increase overall productivity. My job was to help a set of high value employees—those who possessed important corporate history and deep client knowledge—adjust to these new demands. Unfortunately, this particular group of people had developed strategies and behaviours to meet expectations with minimal effort. Despite their potential, they used shortcuts, avoided crucial conversations and deflected arguments to make life as easy as possible. Their initial resistance was unbelievable as they truly felt their set ways offered the best options.

Both of the above examples underline the danger of becoming set in one’s ways. Over time, drinking too much “Kool-Aid” can make people behave without thinking. It can cause us to lose our ability to recognize different solutions or see different approaches. Because the world is constantly evolving, it’s important that we possess the flexibility to change as well, if we are to achieve continued success at what we do.

Your Flexible Self

Having the ability and desire to try different ways and methods is what I refer to as having a Flexible Self. The Resilience Alliance define resilience as the ability to navigate change efficiently, quickly and as painlessly as possible. How surprised I was when I took their resilience test and found my Flexible Self very low on the scale! Being the son of a Canadian diplomat, I moved around a lot, and believed that I was quite open to change.

After I got these results, my coach challenged me to do things differently for 30 days. I accepted and the experience was an eye opener. For 30 days, I questioned everything I did and how I did it. I discovered that change, even the little things, made me more efficient and achieve better results. For example, I went to a different store to pick up office supplies. Even though I didn’t know where everything was located, or was unfamiliar with the staff, I found the new store had more choices and better prices. What I thought would be a time waster was the exact opposite. Talk about false perception!!! I applied this challenge to many things and saw immediate results: better service, reduced costs and better state of mind! All in just 30 days.

The 30 Day Challenge

In some of my programs, I challenge participants to do things differently for one evening and am amazed at the results after just one day. Imagine what you can achieve in 30 days! My 30 day exercise impressed upon me the importance of re-thinking how I operate. Tried and true methods with constant tweaking can and will develop into higher levels of productivity. All it takes is a bit of flexibility.

Are you interested in learning at what level your Flexible Self exists? Are you willing to challenge yourself to do things differently? Drinking too much Kool-Aid is bad for your career. Try my challenge for 30 days and let me know how you are doing, I would love to talk about it over a free coaching session! To learn more about how you could win 6 free coaching sessions, click here. Until then…

Be amazing!

The 30 Day Challenge

Win SIX FREE Coaching Sessions!

I challenge you to do things differently for the next 30 days.  From simple home-based routines such as watching more (or less) TV to  trying a new supplier or technique at work. For 30 days, track the changes you’ve tried and the results.  Please note: I highly discourage Career Limiting Moves!  Report results back to me and you could win six sessions of free leadership coaching over a three month period!

How the contest works:

• Email Coach Denis to say you are in.
• For the next 30 days track your changes and document the benefits. Be creative here!
• Email Coach Denis your results by July 28.
• Winner (announced in August) will receive six free sessions (over three months) of my coaching program where you will learn how to be more effective, strategic and ramp up your career progression.

Read my article, “Think Before You Drink Too Much Kool-Aid” to find out why doing things differently can make you more successful.

Making a Smooth Transition from Technical Expert to Manager

Three Key Steps on Your Path to Leadership Greatness

Congratulations, you just got promoted to the manager role of your team! You are quite excited about the opportunity, the responsibility, the work and of course the salary. But do you really know what you got yourself into?

A big first step in any leader’s career progression is often the most difficult: moving from the technical to the management domain. It’s a tough transition and few people are prepared for it. Most managers that I have worked with (including myself) struggle between technical mastery and management work; a struggle that can go on for years or even decades.

As you start assuming your new “manager” identity, it’s easy to slip back into doing the technical work—especially when you’re not sure what exactly to do as a manager. It’s hard to remove yourself from something that has been your raison d’être for so long! But, for the good of your team and your own career progression, you need to change your habits and ignore your reflexes to do the technical work!

Based on my experience as a technical expert, manager and leadership coach, I’ve assembled three key steps new managers must focus on to ensure a smooth transition from their previous role as a technical expert:

#1. Adapt and Guide. Don’t Always Direct
The first step you must take is to adapt your style to each individual’s skill level, providing guidance, not step-by-step directives. With your new found responsibility, you might be inclined to increase the team’s performance by telling everybody what to do, or how to do based on your proven ways. After all, you’ve been doing this for many years… you know what works. However noble your intentions, consider it from the other perspective: what if a new manager was telling YOU, a seasoned veteran, how to do everything? The junior members of the team might appreciate this style as you are teaching them much needed methods and skills. Unfortunately, ‘other’ technical experts who have also been doing it their way for years may not always appreciate being told what to do and how to do it. Such a directive approach will lead to frustration and animosity. They might even view you as an incompetent leader since you only view your way as the right way.

Understanding each team member’s individual skill set and working within those parameters is vital to your efficiency as a manager and your effectiveness as a leader. Along the way, you may need to coach the individual to consider a different perspective or learn a new skill. This is expected and part of being a good leader. For new managers like you, however, the biggest challenge you will face is remembering the end result—and not the “how” it’s done—is now more valuable to you. It might be hard to see your team struggle, but as their leader, you must leave them the ability to resolve the “how” if they have the capacity to come up with the solution.

#2. Don’t Delay, Manage!
Delaying the transition to a true manager or director in your organization can be the career “kiss of death”. The longer you are labelled a technical manager, the more you will be pigeonholed for technical, non-management roles. Furthermore, when an opportunity does open up at a higher level, because you have focused more on your technical expertise, your lack of key management abilities such as vision, budgeting, conflict resolution, delegation, team building and strategy will be a glaring weakness when compared to other candidates. Your career progression does require you to demonstrate technical prowess; however, it’s those soft, “people” skills that separate the cream from the crop.

#3. Manage Performance Effectively
Managing people who were your peers just a few weeks ago is a challenge for most people. Some new managers will turn into micro-managers and infuriate their ex-teammates. Others will try to ignore poor performance to maintain relationships. This results in lower team productivity and low overall expectations. And as you know, the longer you take to address a behaviour or a problem, the more the team believes that this behaviour or performance level is acceptable. Neither micro-managing nor under managing is good for building a high performance team, or your career path. Finding that right balance to manage your team’s performance is your final step. Getting some coaching and training on this topic can be vital for a smoother transition into management, especially if you are leading your “old” team.

I see new managers struggle with these dynamics all of the time. Don’t forget, these issues are quite common and part of your evolution up the career ladder. As a new manager, your supervisors saw your potential to lead. Your job is to avoid the common mistakes that can delay your progress as a leader. You can transition into your new role with less difficulty if you spend the time and energy acquiring the new skills listed above, and challenging yourself to be the best you can be.

For those of you who are senior executives, it’s easy to forget how difficult this transition can be. Your job is to help smooth the edges and provide some guidance along your new manager’s early leadership path. Until then…

Be amazing!

Are You Having the Right Conversation with Under Achievers?

As a leadership coach, I help executives and managers find solutions to the challenges they face. Sometimes it’s dealing with difficult employees, “managing” leaders at a higher level or preparing for intense negotiation. These activities are hard work, but rewarding. I also provide counsel during one of the most difficult and emotionally draining actions leaders must undertake in the corporate world: employee layoffs.

Unfortunately, when employees can’t do their job or are not a good fit, leaders need to break the relationship and refocus. It’s a difficult, humbling part of my work and it’s where I get to witness a variety of dynamics, reactions and situations.

Good employees are very valuable. A manager’s job is to make sure these people are in the right role for their skill-set. Excellent leaders take pride in their ability to nurture high performance teams by drawing out individual strengths to the benefit of the group. They recognize that everyone has a key role to play, and the manager must “redirect” anyone who strays from the team path. Yet sometimes I wonder how effective managers are in helping valuable but struggling employees find a role that best suits them?

Setting People Up for Success

I ask this because over the years, I have heard comments which indicate that employees were shocked when laid off. Regardless of the circumstance—poor performance or inappropriate behaviour included—a layoff notice should not be a surprise for the employee. A good leader will have provided the proper warnings, had the difficult conversations and engineered the realignment plans to help re-focus a struggling employee’s path. It’s tough to do, but done correctly, these strategies clarify the expectations and ensure everyone understands the consequences if expectations are met—or missed.

As a leader with the ability to significantly affect the lives of others through promotions and layoffs, it’s important you take the proper steps to make sure that terminating an employee is the final and only option to you. Because once you hand out the pink slip, you need to feel confident that the end result was in the best interest of the company AND the individual.

Recently, I was involved with a client who had to layoff some staff members. My role was to help the individuals go through the change process. During the project, I came across a situation where a very valuable employee was being let go. “George,” (not his real name), had been with the company for six years. He had a good reputation, clients were happy with him and there were no complaints from management. About 6 months ago, a new manager came on board with new directives. She was under a lot of pressure to show significant progress in a short period of time. The new objectives required employees to change the way they worked. George said this manager used demeaning language, raised her voice and belittled the employees in order to get them to adopt new behaviours. This triggered George’s “hot” buttons and he was clearly frustrated with her lack of respect. As a seasoned employee, he was very assertive and pushed back on her command and control style. Unfortunately, this was seen as insubordination, and in the end, a valuable staff member with six years of experience, was let go.

Is it Them… or is it YOU?

I am obviously simplifying what I perceive happened, but the lesson is: when a reputable employee is having difficulty under your leadership… is it really just about them? Maybe you need to look in the mirror to see the problem? How clearly have you communicated your expectations? Do they know what is needed of them and why? Are they in a role that best utilizes their strengths? Do they understand the big picture? Do YOU see the big picture? Are you aware of how you are perceived when you communicate and act with this employee?

These questions are difficult but must be considered by good leaders. Having these tough conversations is critical to the well-being of the workplace and will command you respect because you are doing the right thing. Over the years, I have used the following guidelines to ensure my clients are doing all that they can when faced with employee productivity issues:

1. Investigate the facts. Having real facts goes far when trying to solve a problem while rumours get you nowhere. Is your underperforming employee having issues at home? Did they understand the new protocols? Did they read the memo?
2. Abide by the 24/72 hour rule. When upset, if possible, take 24 hours to cool off before you respond. You need to show up in control and be logical! Yet, don’t delay the conversation for more then 72 hours; otherwise, you risk sending the message that poor performance or inappropriate behaviour is acceptable.
3. Use a methodology for constructive feedback. Your first task should be to gather the facts, listen to your employee’s perspective and make sure they feel comfortable as you provide your viewpoint. I suggest the STAR method: describe the Situation and the Task (or behaviour) that was performed by gathering the facts, then describe the Action that was taken and the Results. “John, I noticed that after a few minutes on the call, your language started to change and words deemed offensive were used. This resulted in the client escalating a complaint to my attention. We now have to deal with an important client who is fuming and hesitating to renew his support contract with us. This contract is worth around $250,000.” Relating the Situation and Task without judgment will help your employee receive the message and stay in the logical plane. It also makes sure you are looking at the issue from the same perspective and that your facts are correct. You can then choose to either coach John to get a better Action and Result, or you can become directive in outlining what could have been done better.
4. Work with the employee to outline a corrective action plan. Accountability is the key to making new behaviours stick.
5. Follow up with the appropriate actions. This may be a weekly or even a daily check-in to monitor your employee’s performance and motivation.

When going through this process, your intent will have a huge impact on the outcome. Coming from a place of compassion and helping your employee take the right steps for aligning their behaviour or increasing their skill-set will boost the probability of a positive outcome. The opposite will occur if your approach is vengeful or full of ill intent.

Finally, if your employee’s behaviour does not change and the problem persists, you must take action. With each subsequent occurrence, be clear that their behaviour is unacceptable and that failure to change could result in termination. At the same time, you must be prepared for the day when you may have to layoff this employee. If termination is the end-game, you can rest assured that you did take corrective action but things just didn’t work out. In these difficult situations, working with HR will be invaluable to ensure all laws and best practices are observed. Furthermore, providing a good career transition program is vital to keeping the dignity of the employee and helping them move ahead faster with less emotional difficulties.

Tough conversations and potential layoffs are not a fun subject; however, it’s a reality for leaders like yourself. Having the right conversation at the right time makes sure the end result is as positive and productive as possible. Until then…

Be amazing!

Change is All About Habits

We’ve all heard the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” To me, it’s a poor excuse for explaining why it’s hard to change entrenched behaviours. Whether you are young or old, learning a new behaviour or changing your habits is hard work! Yet this is what we all must do when our habits are no longer productive for us.

Teaching New Tricks

This past summer, I coached my daughter’s U13 (13 year old) competitive soccer team. For many of the kids, this was their first exposure to competitive soccer and its higher level of skilled players. As a coach, it became readily apparent that the habits the girls developed in their younger, recreational years would no longer serve them at the competitive level where the games are faster, the plays more sophisticated and the opponents better athletes. For example, kicking the ball up the field and hoping our fastest sprinter could outrun the defenders didn’t result in goals like it used to. At the U13 level, the well-trained opposition could better anticipate this tactic and simply force our attackers into the corner where we usually lost the ball.

After a few games, I approached one of our “sprinters” to show different ways that she could be more effective on the field when trying to score goals. We had a good conversation and she committed to try new ways. Over the next few games I saw no change. She instinctively sprinted to the corner and usually lost the ball. I then integrated drills into our practices to anchor techniques to serve her and the other strikers in evading defenders and scoring goals. After a few more practices, still no change. The moment of glory happened the game after the third practice where the whole team started to show some new behaviours and use the techniques taught in practice. The outcome: a much stronger style of play with better results. Talk about quite an effort to change the reflexes and habits that were ingrained in their style of play.

I am sure you can relate to such dynamics in your workplace when you see change such as a new project management framework introduced, a new sales force program rolled out or a new customer service paradigm initiated. Humans are creatures of habit. We love doing the same thing over and over because we can anticipate the result and therefore minimize the unknown. Rather than risk the unproven, most people prefer to stick with the tried and true—even if we perceive there could be some benefit in changing. Over time, the “tried and true” behaviour simply becomes a reflex. Because these reflexes or habits have worked in the past, we keep on reacting the same way to the same type of situations.

The good news is, that with some work, anyone—young and old dogs alike—can effectively change their habits! Below are five tips you can use to better direct change:

1. Acknowledge that the status quo isn’t working anymore. Being over budget or delivering projects late are not acceptable in this day and age. Neither is a downward sales trend in a growing market or losing games to weaker opponents. As a leader, you and your team need to recognize that the group is going in the wrong direction and you must make changes to succeed in the future.
2. Provide training in the techniques and behaviour that you and your team need to adopt. Need a better close ratio? Teach your staff more persuasive communication skills and how to focus their efforts on higher potential opportunities. Want to deliver projects on time and on budget? Maybe you need to review your project framework and provide training on best practices. Role play various situations to help your team get comfortable in different, potentially uncomfortable settings. This training or “practice” will increase you and your team’s level of ability and confidence that the end result of this new behaviour will be desirable.
3. Be accountable. The next step is to ensure your team understands what is expected of them and they are prepared to take the risk and try new behaviours. When you’re at your team meeting and reviewing the status of the project or sales opportunity, have them discuss how they are using the technique and how it is working. You should also talk about how YOU are making changes. As the leader, show that this new way of doing things is not a flavour of the month and that you are committed to developing new habits as well.
4. Reinforce the new behaviour as it happens. It’s important to note that training is not enough to change habits. Your positive reinforcement, whether on the sidelines or in the boardroom, is critical to adopting new and unproven habits. When your employee uses that new communication method or sales tool, congratulate her on her effort. This will show that you are noticing the effort, because it does take an effort to do things differently.
5. Accentuate the positive. Do not point out every single mistake that your employee does when adopting a new technique. Chances are, they know when they’ve done it incorrectly, and having you point out all of their errors is demoralizing. Instead, celebrate the wins—even if they are small—by emphasizing the results and applauding the individuals who are taking a risk and trying the new techniques. So when you see your employee trying a new conflict resolution technique with a customer, let her struggle (if you can bear the consequences of a mistake, of course,) and then take her aside and applaud her for trying and congratulate her if she has been able to get the desired results. This is where the new habit will really start showing up. One caveat is to always take into consideration risks. If you are establishing a new health and safety procedure that concerns the life or safety of an employee, obviously, you cannot allow people to learn from their mistakes.

Change Takes Time and Effort… But it’s Worth it!

Research shows that 10% of learning happens in formal training (practice), 20% in coaching and mentoring (on the side line) and 70% on the job (during the game). Patience and perseverance are key to successfully changing your habits when using the above simple steps. In the end, you and your team will come out winners as you support each other and revel in your achievements.

Until then… be amazing!

Walking the Fine Line Between Confidence and Arrogance

One of the great perks of my job is working with very smart individuals. During our coaching sessions I am always fascinated by their expertise and how they navigate complex issues.

Smart people who deliver results are typically very confident. Sometimes; however, very bright individuals with a proven record, can come across very strongly, either as opinionated or worse, arrogant. These are people who see such a clear and obvious path to a solution that they don’t consider other’s input.

When Confidence is Mistaken for Arrogance

One of my clients is a perfect example of this. He’s a PhD with great experience and is scientifically minded. In his view, with research and data, one can only reach certain conclusions. He’s amazing at his job and because of his expertise, he is very quick at resolving complex situations. Yet, he presents himself as almost too confident… more like he is arrogant. The speed and process for which he solves issues makes some people feel uneasy or intimidated. Even though he doesn’t mean to make others feel this way, his resolve is so strong and core to his personality that it’s affecting his opportunities at work.

This type of perceived arrogance causes a lot of workplace problems:

• People around him may distance themselves emotionally or isolate him from the team. This disconnect dramatically lowers the team performance as no one seeks my client’s proven expertise on issues. Even though the team might benefit from his wisdom, they are too afraid to seek it.
• Colleagues feel threatened and undervalued because they perceive whatever they say is never good enough. Feeling humiliated or belittled ensures they will not contribute their expertise to team efforts thus lowering the team potential output even further.
• Individuals like my client are worried they must change, dumb-down their answers, or walk on egg shells, trying to show their sensitivity. It’s exhausting and significantly affects their output, which leads to animosity within the team.
• A weak boss who cannot handle the drive, determination and the results that these personality types bring forward can feel threatened, become more confrontational and decrease his or her overall leadership effectiveness. Once again, the whole team is affected.

If you’re a fan of the TV show “The Big Bang Theory,” lead character Sheldon Cooper is a classic example of this type of personality. His persnickety “don’t tell me anything I don’t already know” perspective accentuates how he values the results much more than the journey needed to get there. He’d rather solve issues by himself than collaborate with individuals who don’t recognize his talents, drive and determination… infuriating everyone around him in the process.

So how can you manage these tendencies or manage someone like this?

1. Soften your Language. Use words that are less radical or moralistic. Avoid statements such as, “It needs to be done this way.” Or, “The way to go is this way… “ Instead, make suggestions which ask for input… “I suggest to do it this way.” Or, “I’m thinking this could work… what do you think?”
2. Validate Team-Wide Input.  Instead of always correcting the person, you might want to validate what they are saying, highlight what is potentially missing and either asking the person to fill in the blank or to suggest a solution.  “This is a great start, I like that you mentioned A,B and C. I think we are missing X and Y. How do you see resolving this?”
3. Authenticate the Value of Team Work. “Scientific” personalities, stick to the facts. Are they aware of the 33% factor? It is proven that you accomplish more as a team by 33% than if you do it individually. Yes, going the team route might take more time, but it’s worth it in the end.
4. Find another boss! If all else fails, you might need to find a new boss. Weaker managers are clearly uncomfortable with this dynamic because they believe they can’t manage people like my client. A good, strong boss can easily handle this type of personality by providing him with clear direction and a good understanding of the sandbox in which to play.

Theoretically, personalities like Sheldon Cooper can overcome their issues by being more humble, seeking out other’s perspectives, being more sociable and using approachable body language. From a practical perspective, however, these smart people see those “theories” as a total waste of their time. They know that the fastest route from A to B is a straight line and anything that doesn’t contribute to that line is not valuable. As a manger, it’s key to appeal to their sense of logic. If you’re the individual, you need to know that Emotional Intelligence plays a huge role in high performing teams—and your career progression.

Eventually my client concluded that the best way to deal with his situation was to fine-tune his language but still be as driven, convincing and confident. He is learning to soften his approach, to use different language and decrease his intensity when required.  He is bright, he will get it and be a fantastic leader!

I encourage you to spend a few minutes this week to consider on which side of the line you or your team members walk. Until then…

Be amazing!

Five Critical Rules Productive Leaders Can’t Ignore

This year’s flu epidemic has been one of the worst in recent memory for me. A large number of clients and friends endured its wrath, myself included. Many of us got sick over the Christmas holidays, and stayed sick for weeks. In talking with clients, and with my own personal flu experience, I uncovered five critical rules productive leaders cannot ignore.

A Lesson from Mother Nature

Sometimes I think the cold and flu season is mother nature’s way of showing us we need to slow down. 2012 was a very, very busy year for me. There were instances where I had to miss a family event or work on the weekend to plan or keep ahead of my deadlines. While I’m thankful for that success, I was exhausted when the Christmas holidays came and I really looked forward to relaxing with my family and friends. Instead, we had to postpone Christmas dinner and many other social activities while the family and I wrestled with the flu. My recovery took an unprecedented three weeks! Every time I felt good, I’d get back into my busy routine, only to relapse and get even sicker and further behind!

Working While Sick is NOT as Productive as You Think

Getting sick and being away from the office can have a significant toll on any leader. Yet not taking the time to get better and rushing back to work is not productive either. My recent flu struggles were quite the epiphany for me. My prolonged recovery forced me to realize I needed to change my ways if I wanted to get healthy again and remain that way. Even though I don’t like being sick and sitting idle, “sitting idle” was the remedy to get better. It was difficult to do, but I knew I needed to be at peace with that state of being—or risk a prolonged flu and potential hospitalization. Constantly working in overdrive and “just getting by” with acceptable health is not sustainable. We all need to slow down from time to time. While it took me three false starts to get to that “epiphany,” as soon as I changed my behaviour and got some rest, my health slowly improved.

Sickness has a huge impact on a leader’s overall performance. You can’t think clearly or stay on task. People might consider your judgment impaired. Plus, you lack the energy needed to get things done. Leaders are role models, and spreading sick germs around the office and infecting your staff is not a great way to build respect or encourage productivity.

Other factors can also affect a leader’s health and productivity. One of my clients was going through a very demanding executive position. He is the typical “Type A” personality. For six months he performed greatly with almost no sleep. Organizational priorities and emergencies made it so that he thought he needed to work extra hard, around 100 hours a week if not more. After six months of this regimen, guess where he ended up? In the hospital! Was that really efficient? In hindsight, this executive now knows the value of constant and steady! For 99% of the population, the concept of thriving on 5-6 hours/night is a false urban legend. Don’t count yourself in the 1%.

Big Dashan’s Updated Rules for Healthy Leaders

In the end, my “flu journey” was a valuable lesson. With this in mind, I’ve tweaked John C. Maxwell’s “Rules for Being Human” to create “Healthy Rules for Productive Leaders”:

Rule #1: You will learn lessons on how to be a healthy leader:
i) Get your sleep – sleep 7 to 8 hours and you’ll think better the next day.
ii) Eat well and be active – it’s your high-octane fuel.
iii) Stay at home when you are sick – you’ll get better, faster.
Rule #2: There are no magic cures – only lessons.
Rule #3: A lesson is repeated until it’s learned. You’ll get rundown and sick until you get it.
Rule #4: Learn the easy lessons or they get harder and you might end up in hospital.
Rule #5: You know you’ve learned a lesson when your actions change.

Good leaders will not ignore the above rules. The know they are more effective, make better decisions and can inspire greater confidence in others just by being healthy. As a leader, you owe it to yourself and your organization to be in “tip-top shape,” because if you wait too long, “life” may just sit you down and tell you it’s time to make changes. Ton Büchner, high-flying CEO of AkzoNobel, took a leave of absence in 2012 due to extreme fatigue. Kudos to a powerful leader like Mr. Büchner and his board for finding the strength and courage to stop resisting and start listening to life’s lessons! It will benefit his organization in the long run.

As you climb up the corporate ladder, maintaining your physical and mental well-being will have a tremendous influence on you, your business and your relationships. I encourage you to take five minutes to consider one thing you can do to improve your level of well-being in the next week. Until then… Be amazing!

– written by Ottawa-based executive coach, speaker and trainer, Denis Levesque. Denis holds a Bachelor of Commerce (U Ottawa), has obtained his Certified Executive Coach (Royal Roads U) and Professional Certified Coach (International Coaching Federation) designations, and is fluent in both English and French.

How Small Changes Can Yield Results

At work, and at home, it’s easy to get comfortable with your processes, tools and routines. We often perceive this “autopilot” as being an efficient way to deal with the more mundane tasks of life. Yet, if we think about what we are doing, and tweak some of these habits, the results can be astounding. We can see things in a different way and identify new opportunities to improve or gain efficiencies. Sometimes, a series of tiny changes can make a big difference over the course of a few weeks or months.

Does Your Autopilot Need a Reality Check?

A recent event helped me to solidify this theory. I’m a jogger, and not that long ago I went out for my regular run. This is a routine task, so I don’t think about it too much: I just put on my shoes and run. Basically, I’m on autopilot. During this particular jog, I wasn’t that far along and I noticed my feet didn’t feel quite the same. They weren’t in pain, but something just wasn’t right. About 1 km passed until I finally took the time to look down at my left foot. Sure enough, I had put my old sneaker on that foot! I laughed to myself for putting on my old pair of runners, which did look similar to my new pair. I kept on running and then 500m later, I realized that something was definitely wrong because I clearly remembered putting my newer shoes on. Finally, I stopped and looked at both shoes at the same time. Here was my reality check: I had put a new running shoe on my right foot and an old running shoe on the left. Incredible! At that point I had to decide: do I continue or go back (or just hide somewhere)?

This event made me realize how we let our brain go on autopilot to address common, repetitive tasks. As a result, we end up paying little attention to the task at hand. We just “do” without thinking about the impact. At work, this translates into running your meetings using the same old format, communicating messages in just one particular way, or interacting with people using the same old style. Often, the status quo isn’t just an old habit, it’s more like a series of old habits from days gone by which have evolved into the company culture. Ironically, many of these habits are highly ineffective yet continue unquestioned—everyone doesn’t think, they just do.

Leaders Must Challenge the Status Quo

Constantly challenging the status quo at your workplace can be very beneficial to your company. Right now, I’m working with a client who has a strong operational culture, known for its quality products and customer service. Although this is a great reputation to have, this culture is so strong that it structures the sales force to become an extension of operations. Sales representatives no longer develop business, they take care of customer service issues and quality control in the field. When I began working with them, sales people spent 70-90% of their efforts reacting to client demand, post sales. You can imagine the company’s challenge to keep its market share and expand the business when their sales force is busy with non-sales related activities. Yet this is a behaviour that’s been ingrained over many years and plays a core role within their culture. The good news is that the organization has finally assessed the situation and is now moving to correct it. As a result of our work together, the incremental changes have seen sales volume growth and better market intelligence. And they have only started to make changes!

It takes courage and strength to look at yourself in the mirror and realize the status quo is NOT working and you need to do something about it. When jogging with two different shoes on, it took me some time to finally address the situation, even though I KNEW something was wrong long before I stopped. How long does it take you to stop and make a clear assessment of the situation when something doesn’t feel right? Are you actually aware that you are wearing two different shoes and not operating as efficiently as you could be? Is it time for your reality check?

Old habits are hard to break and working in autopilot is so much easier in the short term. It’s important that leaders like you spend some time every week—even if it’s just five minutes—to assess the value of these habits and culturally accepted norms. You can assess this personally, or get feedback from others. Either way, it’s likely that you’ll discover something that leads to greater productivity.

Oh, and by the way, I did decide to complete my run with two different shoes. I figured that I was almost 2km into it and didn’t want to go back. But I can assure you, I now double check my shoes so I can run efficiently—and proudly—again!

Until then… Be amazing!

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Denis Levesque is owner of Ottawa-based Big Dashan, a high-performance executive coaching, training and speaking firm. His ARC of Leadership methodology helps leaders go from good to great.