6 Ways to Optimize Leadership Engagement

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Dominate. Withdraw. Engage. Human nature is full of daily interactions with others.

?"Whether it’s texts, emails, or conversations, we all have the power to successfully react and respond in an engaging way without dominating or withdrawing from others." [Tweet This]

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In last month’s coaching, we built the foundation for collaboration from chapter eight of Engage with Honor: Building a culture of Courageous Accountability by confirming why collaboration is essential for success. This month, we look at some key steps on how to effectively collaborate.

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This coaching clip expands on this idea. Please watch, and then continue reading the blog below –

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Innovative Collaboration in the Camps

Now in Chapter Nine of Engage with Honor, I open with a story about how we collaborated in the large cells to use the talents of each individual to make our lives better. Many decades later, it’s clear that collaboration not only improved our lives in the POW camps, but it enabled us to get physically, mentally, and emotionally healthier. In fact, we are living longer than our peers and have long, healthy marriages with our spouses.

In the POW camps, Capt. Tom Storey organized an education program that was truly amazing. We had no books, but within two weeks after our arrival back in the Hanoi Hilton, he had surveyed to find out what people wanted to study and then he recruited instructors for many courses including four different languages, calculus, geography, music, physical fitness, chess, bridge, and art. The results were amazing. Over the next two years, our crowded cell of 55 guys enabled many to get fluent in French, Spanish, or German and a few learned to speak some Russian.

After his return home, he was married for 64 years until his wife passed away in 2019. Tom recently passed away at age 93, so it is special that we are highlighting Tom’s leadership in collaboration and the impact it had on our group. So, let’s honor him this month, and I know his love story continues above with Sylvia and that he’s looking down on those who are collaborating more with a big smile.

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Six Practical Collaboration Steps

To engage in collaboration, you are going to have to be intentional and coach yourself. Take time to think about what you need to do and how you need to do it. Here are some key steps.

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1.Focus on managing talents – yours and others. Everyone is unique, we all have special strengths and struggles, so coach yourself and learn to manage others—especially those who are different. You may like to organize details and plan schedules of work; but for some of your folks, those are not strengths. Try to avoid depending on them to meet your expectations in areas like this example. However, those same people likely have the best talents for communication, sales, flexibility, and community building. So, recognize and remember that you must learn to manage yours and others’ talents differently.

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2. Delegate with clarity. Make sure your people understand what you are expecting. Ask them to share back what they think you want. Discuss the details a bit and let them know what the boundaries are and then give them freedom to do it their way. Also, remember that someone who has been performing this task for years needs less attention than someone who is relatively new and inexperienced.

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3. Dialogue – don’t micromanage. Ask questions and listen to their perspective. Meet with them at their level as a teammate, communicating with them on an equal level. You can always resume being their leader, but make them feel like the expert that you respect as often as possible.

4. Give ongoing feedback. First, reflect on thinking of some things that they are doing well so you can compliment and thank them. Then if needed, you can share what seems to be off-course or needs more attention. There are two key goals: to help them feel valued and important, and to help them correct back on course if needed. At certain steps, sit down and debrief about what’s going well and what is not. And at the conclusion of the project, be sure and debrief—what went well, what did not, and how we can improve next time.

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5. Build a community. Your goal is a collaborative team, not a team of silos. How can you encourage your people to stay connected, dialogue, and work together?

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6. Be courageous. Reflect on your actions and debrief to hold yourself accountable first, before you hold them accountable. Have you engaged with both strength and caring? What are the fears that have held you back? How can you adapt to improve your leadership in the days ahead?

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Whether you are a CEO, a front-line manager, or an independent consultant, your success depends on collaboration. And as the leader you must take ownership.

The Courage Challenge card can help apply all these steps by clearly showing what it means to dominate, withdraw, or effectively engage. Thousands of leaders are using it in their day-to-day leadership, and you can download it for yourself and your team.?

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Increase Engagement Levels on Your Team

Thousands of leaders and teams are already using Courageous Accountability Model to manage team communication and decisions:

Begin using it immediately in your day-to-day decision-making and witness the results of better team performance and results. We offer three options--choose the one that best fits your objectives and goals:

Personal Study

Read the award-winning book, Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability, to learn and apply this model.

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Group Self-Study Program

The Engage with Honor Training Guide provides 10 self-guided lessons that you and your team can study together.

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Purchase the book and training together and save 30%

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Group Online Study Course

Many leaders don’t feel qualified to conduct training, and it’s expensive. The Courageous Accountability Development Course, is an online platform using the latest, real-time collaborative learning technology to ensure the best learning environment possible.

Learn More and watch a sample interview

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