Success Practices for Leaders

Introduction

There are literally endless tips on being a leader, advancing in your career and being happy. No one can keep track of them all. That is why I wrote this book.

This article is for leaders who are already well-educated, in important roles, are responsible for teams, budgets and deliverables. You’re there. Now you must not just be effective, you must be highly effective. Your impact is your mark.

Don’t Have an Accidental Career or Life.

Most individuals let their careers “happen to them”. Often more planning goes into a summer vacation than a 40-year career. You are at-your-career 8 to 12 hours a day….50% of your life. The success of your career directly impacts the success of your life and the people in it!

Professional athletes have plans, nutrition, resistance training, rest, speed, skills, etc. Professional careers need to as well.

I find it fascinating that a large percentage of individuals do not have macro and micro goals mapped out as to where they want to go. Instead, they are reacting and always on defense rather than having a counter-advancement strategy and pro-active mentality.

You are either doing it.... or someone is doing it to you.

I'd like to say that 'grit' is all it takes to be successful but what I see in successful leaders and the people I coach is that all of them have the grit to make things happen. If grit were enough an overwhelming segment of the population would be thin, happy and running multi-million-dollar companies. What leaders often need help with is clarity to open their perspective, self-awareness to regulate their behavior and accountability to implement a sustainable strategy.

Freedom in life and career involves three things:

1.      Acceptance of self and the things that cannot be changed.

2.      Grit that everything else is possible.

3.      Presence to make that happen.

These tips are some of the most effective guidelines I can share for discerning where to focus your attention to be able to position yourself with the executive presence necessary to get sought after results.

Success Practices for the Leader in the High Stakes Corporate World

1. Be YOU-SMART first.

Self-awareness is a leading indicator of happiness and success because if you are aware of what is in your mind you can self-regulate a negative thought before it triggers bad behavior and cripples your executive presence. Don’t retreat to a default behavior of lashing out, withdrawing, defensive posturing or paralysis. Be mindful of your thoughts. Become an observer of them without inserting yourself into the emotion of them. Be gentle with yourself. Be self-compassionate when you doubt yourself. If you know your strengths, play to them. Surround yourself with people who have your weaknesses as their strengths so that you may observe their behavior.

Define your personal values so that you know when you are out of alignment with them and can readjust in situations as opposed to trying to achieve an expectation that isn't in alignment with your authenticity. Personal values are simply the things you hold dear that no one can take away from you such as humor, family, freedom, creativity. Whether you are at the board room table or the dinner table, know who you are and appropriately manage your emotions no matter where you are seated. High performing leader don’t judge, criticize, or get emotional. They listen, analyze for a purpose, give sensitive and meaningful feedback and self-regulate negative emotions.

Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. This is not vain. It is wise. What do you see? What do others see? Be proud of your talents and accomplishments. Dress as someone who is proud of the role they are in. Dress for the role above the one you have. Stay in shape. Commit to daily routines such as daily physical activity, meditation, reading mindful a passage, a craft, drinking a slow cup of coffee or tea and appreciating the taste, a mindful walk. These activities keep you in the moment where you will be at your best.

When you feel grounded, you will not embarrass yourself by trying to impress others or waste time defending yourself. You will engage people to follow you because of how much you care about them and can align their values with the project at hand. It starts with being mindful of your thoughts.

2. When anxious find the Pause Café.

Be vulnerable. It means you are human. Don’t armor up against the fact that you may feel insecure in a new role. You are in a high stakes position and what you do, say and think matters now more than ever. You may even suffer from a touch of ‘imposter syndrome,’ thinking that you may not even deserve to be in your new role. Nonsense. Do not let self-doubt hamstring your progress or impact. You have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself. Stay focused on what you were hired to do. Know succinctly what your deliverables area. Emotions are helpful because they are your trigger that something needs to be addressed. Get curious about your emotions. Just don’t let them unravel out of control as an outburst at work.

Executive leaders need to regulate their emotions in the moment so that they may remain open to opportunity and develop engagement. High performing executives do not lose their temper, withdraw, become passive aggressive, divide colleagues, create camps of “yes’ people, or lead with a personal agenda – because all these things simply drive people away from you and not to you, leaving you ineffective. These behaviors are all defenses for not being able to deal with difficult emotions. Executive leaders face and manage the truth of their emotions before their emotions manage them. Mindfully practice the steps to ‘The Pause Café’ so that when you feel stressed, threatened, or worried this method will quickly release the tension and shift perspective before your behavior repels your team and the people you care about.

ü P – Pause and take a deep breath.

ü A – Ask yourself, “What is going on with me?”

ü U – Untangle what is an “Assumption” and what is “Truth.”

ü S – Step back and allow the constricted view to open. Physically take a step backward and imagine a peaceful, word, color, smell, song, person. What else could be going on?

ü E – Extend Compassion to yourself. You can even bring your hand to your heart and tell yourself, “I am calm and effective.” Then extend Compassion to others. “She is just doing the best she knows how.”

3. Be a thought leader.

Think BIG! Don’t be situation focused. Know the mission, vision and values of the organization so that when there is discord you can go back to them to ground yourself and the team. Study key metrics, market share, goals and drivers so that you have clarity on what is important. When divisions, departments, colleagues and leaders are at odds, position yourself to have clear focus on the vision of the organization; it’s not a turf war. Your internal resources are not the enemy. Confusion is the enemy. Listen deeply. Separate the people from the problem. Understand their fear. Build alignment where everyone feels heard. And create solutions.

Most work environments today are project-based. Teams need to make more decisions without approval from above, forcing them to think strategically always. Think independently. Anticipate problems before they occur. Don’t concentrate on the minutia. Before you address a problem make sure you are addressing the right problem and not just an issue someone is having. Who else will be affected? Who else should be at the table? Think a year down the road. Think five, ten and fifteen years the road.

4. Have your boss’s back.

This is the first law of power in the corporate setting. Your boss can mentor you, give you experience, and position you to advance. Instill trust in your work ethic. Always set him or her up for success. A boss who knows you have his or her back will support you in an even greater proportion because they are best positioned to be your strongest advocate. You may not agree with everything they say or do. Your job is not to second guess them. While in your role, your job is to have their back and be their go-to person. If it is philosophically impossible for you to find a way to do that – it is time to move on. You will never perform at your best if you are not in alignment with your boss.

You will need to get along with every member of your peer team, but your most important relationship is with your boss. Meet with him early and ask, “In six months if I am to be successful in this position, what would that look like?” At meetings always be respectful of your boss. If you question something she is doing, ask for clarification in private.

5. Learn to ‘deep listen’ and make them feel heard.

When you are at a meeting, don’t worry about what you have to say, listen to the others present. You’ll know you are doing this right if you aren’t formulating what you want to say when others are talking. If you deep listen, you will ask questions that make people take notice. You will hear opportunity. You will validate. You will self-manage in a way that makes everything you say relevant and not just calling attention to yourself. Deep listening commands respect. When you listen deeply you can affirm back what you heard and what the inference was. When you can do that it builds trust.

Typically, we listen 1) for the other person to take a breath so we can say what we have to say. Or 2) we try to solve their problem for them before establishing trust and they end up not doing what we have to say anyway. When you can 3) ‘deep listen’ without formulating a response in their head while they are talking and simply affirm back what you have heard a bond begins to occur that leads to trust. The other person starts to value your opinion because they feel understood. They feel hear.

Have compassion. Care about people as more than a productivity metric. The ‘Productivity Model’ of management doesn’t work. Connect what they personally value to the values of the organization. “Tell me about why what we do is important to you.”

If you want to be relatable and connect, you must know how to stop speaking and deep listen. When you present an idea at a meeting, ask each person to share their thoughts on the issue without commenting until all the people at the meeting have had a chance to comment. This creates a safe environment for people to share their thoughts. Then recap what you’ve heard and ask them to comment again. At that point you are ready to comment and ask questions. Repeating this process will train you to hold back and allow for new ideas to come forth – ideas you had not considered that are important.

The Leader’s Process for Presenting a New Idea to the Team:

Present Idea > Ask each person for feedback > Recap feedback > Ask for feedback on the recap > Summarize again > Then you comment. If you editorialize people’s comments right after they comment people will stop commenting. That’s human nature. Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.

6. Write down your career vision and back into your goals.

If you don’t know where you want to be in a year you are already there. Write down your vision. Solidify the steps to get there. Sketch what it looks like. What will you be doing one month before you get there – three months before, six months before? Your organization, no doubt, knows where it’s going; why shouldn’t you? Examine the organization chart of your company. Notice the career track people several grades above you took to reach their positions. Where do you see yourself in two years? How long will you stay with your organization? What are the reasons? What experience do you want to get while you are there? Write down the answers to these questions and revisit them often. When you have vision and connect that vision to your values – what matters most to you – your work will be purposeful for you and meaningful to the organization.

7. Understand the company culture and build alliances right away.

Wherever you are in your career, establish connections with key people. First impressions are cast very early. Be known as an authentic collaborator who builds alignment. Who are the key people that influence your work? Meet with them. Ask them many questions about them. That will tell them all they need to know about you.

Organizations need leaders to think independently, problem solve with diverse peer groups and manage their own time, workload, career path, and relationships. Don’t wait for someone to walk you through any of these. You own it. You are your own manager.

Find out very quickly how decisions are made within your organization. Make an appointment in an informal environment such as a coffee shop or over lunch with every member of your peer team. Ask them how decisions are made. Observe the hierarchy of decision making. What is the protocol?

Make an appointment with 1) each person in your department and 2) key stakeholders throughout the organization that weigh in on your work. Get to know them. Ask them about their career goals, how they got to where they are and what they want to do in the future.

Then ask them four things:

1.      What should we do more of?

2.      What can we do less of?

3.      What should we eliminate?

4.      If you were me, what would you do in this role?

4.

8. Establish front-sight-focus on what is measured.

Front-sight focus is a military tactic that has a metaphorical application to business. Define the precise metrics you, your department, and your company use to measure success and don’t stray from your target. Meet with your boss regularly to review your job description and your key performance indicators. Don’t allow for any surprises at your annual review. Make sure you hit and exceed the established goals. Plan the pace, resources and connections required to reach your goals. And stick to work that drives and achieves those metrics. Don’t get distracted with shiny objects, trends, competing opinions and the like. That doesn’t mean don’t innovate. It means focus on the goals and reinvent processes along the way that streamlines the course. What can you eliminate to make time for what is important? If you have a new idea, research its viability before you publicize it for discussion. Be able to explain how it furthers the mission and vision of the project or organization. Show how you will implement it. Be focused on the target.

9. Practice ‘Mindful Daily Practices’ that build confidence, connection and calm.

People who have great presence and happiness have daily practices that keep them mindfully grounded. Mindfulness is simply staying in the moment - paying attention to your attention such that your focus does not get hijacked by anxious thoughts.

a. Before you act, take a deep breath and find the Pause Café Moment where you are aware of how emotion is playing into your presence – your delivery, your decisions and your connection with people.

b. Never judge or use emotional volatility as a management tool. Practice acceptance of what is.

c.  Never criticize a person – analyze the work and ask questions as to the root of their thinking.

d. Don’t personalize any criticism of you. They might not know these skills yet.

e. Keep a gratitude journal of what you are grateful for each day and what you notice about yourself.

f.   Write down an intention each day and keep that mantra in your front-sight focus. “Today I will listen deeply.” “Today I will pause before I respond.”

g. Meditation is a great mindfulness builder. Simply set aside 10 minutes to pay attention to your breathing, “I am breathing in. I am breathing out.” Feel the breath coming in and out of your body. Download apps such as Insight Timer to help you with guided meditations. Stay with the physical and not your thoughts. If your mind wanders that is OK. Just being your attention back to your breath.

h. Take a mindful walk where you stay in the moment not on the conversation you just had that upset you. Notice each step on the path, people’s faces along the way, each breath you take.

i.   Enjoy a morning ritual that might include physical activity, a cup of tea, meditation, listening to peaceful music BEFORE you check your phone.

j.   Do nothing on your phone, computer or iPad after 8:00 pm.

10. Know your “WHY” – Your Value Proposition.

Influencers know not only what they do, but why. Ask yourself simple value proposition questions before you meet with your team, hiring managers, your boss of Human Resources professionals.

a. Why do I want to do this work?

b. Why should teams, colleagues, employees, clients, prospects work with me. Why should they mentor me or do business with me?

c.  How do I make their lives better?

d. What is it that only I can help someone with because of my unique talents, perspective and experience?

e. What makes me indispensable?

Be able to describe your value proposition in two sentences. Examples: I listen deeply to hear the real root cause of what’s needed, create vision, build alignment with the team around shared values and together implement strategies that will take us there. OR I help busy leaders get off the treadmill to nowhere to have a better position, higher income, more calm and connected relationships with the people who matter while it still matters.

11. Keep an “Important Things to Remember” document.

You will be going to conferences, trainings and meetings whereby you will be given myriad advice that you will hardly remember if you don’t chronicle it somewhere. Each time you attend a meeting or conference gleam the highlights into one document stored in a folder on your computer you are not likely to forget – “Important Things to Remember” or “Jedi Advice” or “Thought Leader Info.”

Then schedule a recurring time in your calendar once a month to review it – such as the first Monday of every month. This will help you hold yourself accountable for executing those important things. Set deadlines and milestone in your calendar to help you achieve those “Important” but “Not Urgent” items that always get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list and are often forgotten. Strategic achievement is better than just getting things done.

12. Use “We” when showcasing your work and be specific when giving praise.

Position your work to be seen, yet never brag. Others will notice that you are driving the results so showcase it as a team effort. If you call attention only to yourself, that is all people will notice. Call attention to the accomplishment – not yourself. Your boss and other key leaders should know what you are achieving. Give praise by pointing out specific triumphs of your team. Report your successes in an unbiased and neutral manner using “we” to give credit to the team. “We are closer to meeting our goal now that we have exceeded the membership growth driver” sounds, much better than “I secured more new members to join our organization than anyone.” It is better to say, “I noticed how you focused on the goal and didn’t get distracted when you could have” than to simply say “Great job.”

13. Make lateral moves to gain experience.

Most people are focused on what it takes to move to more influential positions at work but building experience in diverse specialties can make your leadership more broadly sought after. Businesses that have the agility to pivot to different products and business models tend to be more successful than those that have a single focus. It is the same with people. The U.S. presidency makes perfect example of this lateral principle. Of the 10 presidents that a recent C-Span Survey found were the country’s best (Lincoln, Washington, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Wilson and Regan) none took a traditional route of House or Senate experience to the White House. Move laterally only to gain valuable experience. Otherwise wait to advance.

14. Anticipate problems and opportunities. Reframing problems and be solutions focused.

Your role as a leader is to anticipate problems and opportunities before they occur. Business problems are commonplace. The normal response to a problem is to search for a solution. Take a fresh twist on problem solving by reframing the problem from a different perspective. Maybe you aren’t even focused on the right problem. How might another company perceive the issue? “What if?” Draw a “How-why” matrix to show cause and effect of different solutions. Map out possibilities that are nonlinear. Take your team off site. Work backwards from the solution. Ask someone new. Relax with deep breathing and reexamine. Create a thinking environment where everyone shares ideas one at a time for the same amount of time without interruptions and then repeat the process after everyone has heard each other. Create a story board of the problem. Ask “why” this happened and drill deeper asking “why” five times to uncover the root cause.

15. Don’t take it personally or desire to win at all costs.

So often we internalize people’s negative behavior toward us as something wrong with us. If your uncertain about someone's pensive perspective on you follow these steps.

1. Schedule a meeting with the other person with the purpose of creating a better working or personal relationship. Do not handle this through email.

2. Tell her you hope you are wrong, yet you sense judgment from her. Ask him what you could do to improve the relationship.

3. Listen for opportunities for self-improvement. Ask her what she believes her role is in aligning the relationship.

4. If after you have done this her behavior doesn’t change, she doesn't own her part in the misalignment or she won’t even meet with you it’s time to let go of your expectations of her. Unrest always lies in expectations. Having them is useless and out of your control. Goals you can affect are far better.

5. Release your desire for a healthy relationship with him and start managing him like a difficult person. The relationship may become transactional. That’s ok if it facilitates what needs to be done.

6. The question then becomes - What do you need to do to successfully work with her yet remain emotionally detached?

Successful people focus on winning. Their dedication is a big part of their success. But truly effective people know also how to be collaborative such that all parties feel heard and are comfortable with how their goals are being addressed. Your connection with people is your signature. People will forget what you say and do, but never the way you make them feel.

16. Surf the high waves all the way to the shore.

Surfers know when the wave is just right. They’ll lay on their surfboards waiting for just the right swell and ride it all the way to the shore. They’ll study the current from out of the water, watch and examine the environment. In business and life, know who the key influencers are. Watch how people behave, what the culture is and then observe it from an outside perspective. Have patience while you canvas the landscape. Don’t be risk averse and miss a great wave. Catch that high impact wave when it comes your way and ride it all the way in to the sand. Often leaders impatiently jump off a good initiative to grab a new shiny object that comes along. Ride the wave all the way to the shore. Make sure you’ve analyzed every opportunity before you abandon the wave.

17. Have certainty.

Successful leaders have conviction so strong and so fierce they eliminate all doubt. People follow them because risk seems low when someone is that confident. Certainty is not arrogance. It comes with confidence from having invested time and knowledge in a decision. It is having powerful and unwavering trust in yourself with the humility to say when you are wrong and ask for help when you need it. Leaders with certainty also have high self-esteem which is different than confidence. Confidence is being competent. Self-esteem is feeling worthy to be there. You need both with the humility to ask for help.

18. Develop profound executive presence.

Observe leaders and people you admire. Write down a list of leaders/people you admire and visit it often. Notice their body language, their tone of voice, their posture, their wardrobe, their smile, their sincerity, their friends, their manners, and their style. Be a student of success. Exude confidence without being aggressive. Get a full-length mirror. Notice what others see when they see you. Define your own self-image on your terms. It will not just fall into place. Define your presence before you are characterized by others. Executive presence is mostly gauged by your gravitas – your finesse and ability to command authority. This does not improve be reading another business book. It improves by searching inside yourself for your leadership brand. What do you want to be known for? How do you want other leaders to describe you?

19. Strike a Power Pose.

This is very effective prior to a presentation or key meeting. Pay attention to your body language. Do you sit upright with your shoulders back in confidence at meetings? Or do you slouch with anxiety. Harvard Business School research shows that holding your body in an upright, shoulders-back high-power pose for as little as two minutes before you need to present, negotiate, lead a meeting, build alignment or any other high-stakes activity stimulates higher levels of testosterone (the hormone linked to power and dominance in the animal and human worlds) and lower levels of cortisol (the "stress" hormone that, over time, can cause impaired immune functioning, hypertension, and memory loss). Therefore, gymnasts throw their hands up in the air and strike a power pose before they perform. The Power Pose leads to increased feelings of personal power and a greater tolerance for risk. Move over fear of public speaking.

20. Be a storyteller.

You will be revered as a consummate communicator when you use stories to make a point. Think of the difference between a movie and a PowerPoint presentation. Would you rather sit through a slide show on Italian-American culture in the 1940s or watch The Godfather? Both have a sense of history and values. You will remember the story far longer. Stories convince because they engage and entertain.

A story has a likable main character who comes upon a problem, suffers challenges and then creates a way to overcome them. We identify with the hero because of the way he/she addresses the challenges, shows humanity and succeeds.

21. Be the Rent-an-Adult.

In any environment you are often faced with contentious situations where emotions are high, and consensus is low. This is where your mindfulness comes to the forefront. Don’t insert yourself into the emotion of the situation.

Be the one who can step back and say, “Maybe we can think about this for a couple days and develop some alternatives.” Be the person who listens deeply and affirms rather than argues. “I can imagine how frustrating that must be.” Be the interested party. “Maybe I don’t fully understand all of the parameters. Can you tell me more about that?”

22. Control the agenda.

If you ask for a meeting, set an agenda. This way you control what will be addressed and can drive the discussion to the outcomes you want. Send out the agenda ahead of time. If someone invites you to a meeting, ask for the agenda beforehand. This way you can determine what outcomes you want by the end of the meeting. If they don’t send one, come with one in hand containing what you want to achieve.

23. Open meetings with a perspective shift. (Works in personal life too.)

Here are examples of ways to start meetings that will keep your team engaged:

a.   Let’s start by imagining we are walking out of this meeting happy with what we did. What did we accomplish?

b.   Tell me something I don’t want to hear. It’s ok to give me bad news. In fact, I want it.

c.    Before we start this meeting can we take a mindful pause, a deep breath and let go of any tension, discord or ambivalence that we may have brought in with us today. I am really interested in your opinions.

d.   I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion on (X). First, I ask that you jot down some notes. Then we will go one-by-one around the table with everyone having two minutes so that I may gain insight from each of you. After we do that, we will go around again to see if your insight has changed.

24. Be a knocker not a steam engine.

Be curious. Don’t interrupt with your ideas. Ask, “Are you open to an idea?” Or “I’m curious as to what you would think of this idea.” Your grace will make a lasting impression.

25. Leave meetings with an accountable action plan.

Make sure all parties agree on:

1.      What specific plan are we agreeing on?

2.      How will we measure success?

3.      What exactly are the next steps?

4.      Who is responsible for each one?

5.      When are the deliverables due?

6.      When will you meet again?

26. Show humility. Invite feedback on yourself. Thank them and announce what you are working on.

Performance reviews and 360 evaluations are helpful for this, but you may request feedback at any time and often. Don’t just ask for feedback from your boss. Ask colleagues, friends, customers, and clients how they think you are doing and what they think you need to know or can improve and how. Thank them for providing you this crucial information. (Remember you have a vision of where you want to be, and they are helping you get there faster.) This also is a way to disarm any stereotype with which you may have been labeled. Be sure to do these things at work, with friends and with your children and family:

a.      Ask for feedback from people you trust. Be specific. 1) “If you were me, what is something you would do more of? 2) What is something I could improve? 3) What is something I should stop doing?

b.      Also meet with people who may have stereotyped you and tell them you value their feedback and want to know what they think you should work on. (This will make them part of your transformation and they will more likely accept a new perspective on you.)

c.      Thank the providers of feedback in a hand-written note.

d.      Tell them how thankful you are for the specific positive strengths they noted and explain how you will apply them.

e.      Tell them your one or two target areas to improve based on their feedback.

f.       Apologize for any impact that negative behavior or under-performance has had on them.

g.      Ask for any suggestions they have on how to improve. This gives you the opportunity to not only improve, but also burst through a stereotype someone may have of you. By announcing that you are working on something allows for a change in perception.

27. Never use “but.”

Nobody listens to anything you say after it, and they find whatever you said prior completely disingenuous.

28. Don’t give excuses, just your commitment.

Excuses are simply your fears trying to protect you from failure. Go ahead and fail. Just fail early. This isn’t baseball. You aren’t judged by how often you hit the ball versus how often you are at bat. You are judged by your effectiveness. Those who take risks set perfectionism aside and achieve. Those who don’t, make excuses. Done is better than perfect.

Never give an excuse – just an explanation and your plan to get it done. This means you own everything that goes wrong with your work and that of your team. “Yes, that was my responsibility and I didn’t get it done yet I knew the deadline. I got sidetracked with the new project – it’s not an excuse just an explanation.” “I will have that finished today.”

When you offer an idea to an individual or a group that is met with harshness and you end up feeling judged it’s a trigger to react on the defensive. Don’t take the bait. Take a deep breath. Immediately DEPERSONALIZE the situation. Don’t make it about you versus him/her. You need not defend anything. Make it about him/her versus the process.

Seek clarity on the rules. “I’m confused. What are the rules of the group? Help me understand.” I use “Help me understand...” often when I need to make a point and follow with a question on process. Likely someone has abandoned the process, or the process was never created in the first place and needs to be for future progress.

29. Use the ‘FBI’ method of giving feedback.

If you want people to value you then be a high performer, anticipate needs, stay engaged, and appreciate everyone. Tell them specifically what you notice. Not “Good job,” but “I noticed how you saw what was not working, analyzed why and created a plan that you executed flawlessly. Very impressive.” Don’t speak in generalities. Praise them in front of others. Give negative feedback in private only. Pay people more who accomplish more. If the team hit its goal, how about an afternoon off or a team building activity off site. The FBI Method of Giving Feedback:

1.      F - State how you FEEL about what they did. It tells them they matter to you personally. “When you took it upon yourself to investigate the background on that initiative it made me feel proud that I could rely on you to not only do your work but to anticipate what might go wrong before it happens.”

2.      B – Specifically identify their BEHAVIOR – what they did. “You researched industries that would be good clients of ours, refined the search by running your list against who had done business with us over the last 10 years and came up with a hot, warm and cold list of prospects who we could start to contact.”

3.      I – What was the IMPACT? “Because you did this work without being asked, you saved us weeks of wasted time on outdated prospecting methods, identified an entirely new lit of prospects who are much more likely to engage and are keeping the project on schedule.”

30. Own the failures and give the glory away.

Leaders own what goes wrong and are the springboard for what goes right. If you surpass a goal, others will notice it happened under your leadership. Give the glory of the triumph to the team. That doesn’t mean to not share the excitement with others. It means position the glory for the team. You are a leader no matter where you are seated at the table. So conversely, if someone on your team made a mistake, you are responsible for them. Never discredit anyone in public. Praise in public. Counsel in private. If you handle your team this way, they will always have your back.

31. Be known as a mindful and servant leader.

We lead at work and in our personal life. Be known as the person everyone wants on their team and in their friendship circle. Be a servant leader who wants everyone to share in the highs. Be willing to own the lows. Be the mindful parent, leader friend, confidant, who listens well, takes everything into account and only expresses an opinion when it is relevant – not just to be heard.

Be true to your word. Be sound in your behavior. Do not speak unkindly of anyone. Listen but do not comment if the remarks are negative. If someone is jealous of you be silent. Allow them their misery all to themselves. It’s their journey not yours. Do not engage in undermining them or gossip. Be true to yourself and a servant leader to all, including them. If their jealousy of you makes it difficult for you to succeed or be around them try to understand what it is they fear. Being less than? Being unnoticed? Not advancing? Then sincerely validate their positive qualities that will counter their fear. “I notice how you.... Great work.” “You really stood out on that.” “That really makes a difference for the company.” Be known for strong character. People will forget what you say and do but never how you make them feel.

Bravo! You have read this article – evidence that you are committed to be a highly effective and mindful leader. These tips are some of the most effective guidelines I can share in a short space to help you discern where to focus your attention. They are designed to help you position yourself with the executive presence necessary to get the results you seek.