July 2009

Welcome to the July issue of "The Edge"! Coaching as a key part of leadership In the June issue of "The Edge" we addressed some aspects of change and innovation. Another aspect of effectively addressing change in the workplace is to utilize the tool of coaching. Like star athletes, individuals and professionals who use coaching are smart, talented and motivated. They use coaches to help them consistently improve themselves, their businesses, organizations and their lives. The articles in this issue provide some helpful tips that you can use to enhance your coaching interactions with your staff. To build coaching skills in your organization call Peter Neufeldt to explore workshop options that will help grow your staff and your organization. Peter can be reached at 306-790-4570 or at peter@peakperformanceconsulting.ca As you know, at Peak Performance Consulting our focus on learning continues to address the challenges of achieving ever higher goals of personal and professional growth. Another option, - if you can't attend our workshops but want to sharpen your skills and tap into your potential, remember to check out The Science of Creating Your Dreams, and The Quantum Game introduced in our February Newsletter. For more details on these outstanding on-line personal development programs click on the following links: The Science of Creating Your Dreams: http://www.360performanceleadership.com/socyd.html The Quantum Game: http://www.360performanceleadership.com/quantumgame.html Enjoy! Peter Neufeldt

The 12 Qualities of True Business Professionals Professionalism is a word embraced by many, but in all honesty demonstrated by far fewer individuals. Its Latin's origins come from the word profess which means, "to avow before." So the question is who are these individuals that believe themselves to be true professionals avowing before? Possibly the answer may be found within the word professional. P - Positively proactive. Professionals demonstrate behaviors that are positive, proactive instead of negative, and reactive. R - Respect. Through this ethic and value of respect, professionals are known and trusted within and without their respective organizations. O - Opportunities to help others. Those who avow before understand they have a responsibility to help others whether it is to grow self-leadership skills or provide some expert advice. F - Follow-up. No one likes to wait for un-returned phone calls or emails. Professionals make it a habit to follow-up on everything and accept responsibility when they fail to engage in that behavior. E - Empathy. Professionals know how to be empathetic. This characteristic is a one of the signs of high emotional intelligence and a predictor for leadership success. S - Self-confident. When individuals are self confident, they do not have to put others down at their own expense. These individuals have a high sense of balanced self-esteem and role awareness. S - Sustainable. Professionals are truly sustainable in that they can continue forward when times become difficult. Their ethics and beliefs keep them focused. I - Integrity. Integrity is putting your values into action; doing the right thing when no one else is looking without personal gain or benefit; and accepting a potential personal cost. O - Optimize all interactions. This is critical because professionals do not negate the value of people. They look to see how one interaction can benefit someone else even before himself or herself. N - Nimble. Being flexible and open to change allows these individuals to be quick on their feet and nimble to the opportunities that they encounter on a daily basis. A - Awareness. Having a high level of awareness of themselves, the marketplace, the community and even the world helps these individuals continually stay on top of things. L - Leadership. Last, but not least, professionals demonstrate exceptional leadership skills and even more importantly self-leadership skill. For if you cannot lead yourself, you cannot lead others. Leadership Coaching Tip: Take a few moments to revisit this list and determine if there are any areas to be further developed. Remember the origins of the word professional - to avow before and are your actions in alignment with your beliefs? Adapted with permission. Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Advanced Systems

Addressing 'Un-engaged' Employees In spite of current economic conditions, there are still employees in the workforce these days that are not "actively engaged" at their company. In other words, they don't display passion or enthusiasm about their job, and as a result, their production (as well as their overall contribution to the company) suffers. At times like these, the last thing that companies need is lost productivity. While some companies may have already laid-off many of their under-performing or "un-engaged" employees, some might remain. This could be for a number of different reasons, and perhaps a combination thereof. Some of these reasons are listed below: The employee was highly productive in the past. The employee was responsible for the creation of a product and/or service that brought the company considerable revenue. The employee has been with the company for a long time. The employee is on a team integral to the creation of future revenue. Regardless of the reason or reasons that the person is still with the company, their engagement (i.e., production) is important. As a result, the fact that they are un-engaged is a reason for concern and should be addressed as soon as possible. After all, if the company is depending upon this individual for future success, they should be re-engaged in an expedient fashion. The following are suggestions for doing just that, and they all involve sitting down with the employee and speaking with them on a one-on-one basis: Inquire - Ask them if there's something they need in order to do their job better, whether more efficiently or more effectively. Give them the benefit of the doubt; if they do indicate there's something they need, offer to provide it. Advise - Suggest additional training to the employee, especially in those areas in which they appear to be lagging or those that would benefit the company the most. Challenge - Spell out, in no uncertain terms, that the employee is being counted upon, especially in these daunting times, to help the company not only survive, but also thrive. The ultimate goal, of course, is to help the employee reach their previous high levels of performance and productivity. That's why communication is so vital to the entire process. Miscommunication is at the heart of many, if not most, problems in the workplace. Ensuring that no miscommunication exists is the first step toward "re- engaging" the employee. The next step is the setting of clear expectations for the person. They must know what is expected of them, and they must express their understanding of these expectations to you. By taking the steps above, you're both communicating with the employee and setting clear expectations for their future performance, increasing the chances that you'll be able to re- engage them and enhance their contributions to the company. If you have any questions about this article, or about how we can help you with your current performance, leadership, strategic, or hiring needs, send an email to us. Copyright protected, Sorrell Associates, LLC all rights reserved worldwide. ©Gary Sorrell - NewsletterVille.com