Blog - People for Success

Six skills for effective communication in leadership

23 July, 2021 por P4S

Not all good communicators can lead, but all good leaders can communicate.

Of all the skills of leaders (by which they are identified), communication is universally considered the most important.

After conducting research by the Wall Street Journal, it has been shown that the most sought after skill set in a leader is effective communication.

Differentl workers from distinct organizations felt that, despite finding candidates with all the skills they needed (accounting, engineering, finance, etc.), they were stuck with the problem that not everyone was able to communicate clearly and effectively. Many claimed to have good communication skills, however, this was not always the case.

Effectively, the six communication skills necessary for good leadership are: a) writing skills; b) verbal ability; c) good presentation; d) non-verbal ability; e) intercultural communication; f) listening skills.

The six communication skills mentioned are accompanied by essential characteristics, such as: a) awareness; b) clarity; c) simplicity; d) authority; e) relevance; f) credibility.

Nevertheless, these characteristics may not always be present and may be compromised due to: a) distraction; b) emotion; c) prejudice; d) linguistic differences; e) discrepancies; f) inattention.

Thus, for the communication skills to be effective in leaders, it is essential to have focus, objectivity, open mind, articulation capacity, ability to analyze facts and concentration, on their part.

Original article: The Six Leadership Communication Skills

How to plan your vacation without frustrating your travel partner

19 July, 2021 por P4S

When planning your vacation alone, things become very simple. There are no different opinions or ideas, nor is there anyone you have to commit to. In fact, you can do what you really want. Several studies have shown that individual travel has increased significantly, particularly in female subjects.

However, most trips are still carried out with family or friends. In addition to different opinions about the value or type of vacation that each one wants, personality differences can determine the type of vacation you will take.

It’s been proven that traveling makes people happier, but what’s the best way to plan your holiday taking into account the opinions of others?

Think of planning your vacation as if you were working on a project. You have to fulfill a goal, just like the person you’re going to vacation with. However, if they have different personalities, they have to achieve their goals in different ways, especially if they have clear preferences for Judging or Perceiving.

Despite personality differences, these can help the group, couple or family if they are worked together and if you know how to deal with them.

If you prefer Judging, focus on establishing a vacation plan and focus on completing the tasks. Generally, those with a preference for Judging like to follow a plan in order to avoid last minute changes (especially if it entails a higher cost).

However, if Perceiving is your preference, you should focus on vacation plan development and evaluate several possibilities that may ultimately arise. Typically, those with a preference for Perceiving don’t mind changing their vacation plan or making possible last-minute changes.

People who have a preference for Judging or Perceiving can easily get into conflict, particularly when planning tasks and/or activities, including vacations.

However, you can turn these disagreements into advantages, remembering that each one has a different personality and can work together, facilitating the planning of any activity.

How do different personality types (Judging and Perceiving) like to plan

Those who have a greater preference for Judging tend to start planning any activity in advance and in a systematic way. Usually, they have their activity planned about a week before the stipulated deadline. These individuals tend to consider that those with a preference for Perce

Those with a preference for Perceiving, on the other hand, start planning closer to the deadline. They like to work spontaneously and with higher levels of effort.

Depending on the MBTI® personality type, the pair could negotiate their differences at the beginning of the holiday planning process in order to avoid conflicts.

Use differences in personality type to an advantage

The group, couple or family must identify specific goals that need to be done by the first week of the respective month (deciding the start and end dates of the trip, buy the flights, find a hotel).

People with a preference for Judging need people with a preference for Perceiving to do their part of the planning in their own way. This could mean that the latter is planning a part of the vacation (a list of activities or restaurants) that does not need to be decided early.

The personality type with a preference for Perceiving does not like to plan rigidly and prefers to be open to new options and/or information. So anything that can be planned later (and more at the last minute) works well for them.

Thus, and finally, remember that self-awareness plays a fundamental role in communication in different personality types and that it makes anyone’s job easier.

Original article: How to Plan a Vacation Without Frustrating Your Travel Partner | Psychometrics Canada

The difference between leadership styles and practice

13 July, 2021 por P4S

Many coaching clients often ask “what is the ideal leadership style?”, however, the most appropriate answer is: it depends. Effectively, there is no single “ideal” leadership style. Each style has both positive and negative characteristics.

Leadership styles

According to Kirsten Meneghello, CEO of Illumination Coaching, there are two fundamental leadership styles:

Dominant leadership style: These leaders are generally driven by a strong sense of responsibility in order to achieve good results and expect others to assume that responsibility as well. They may appear to be very confident leaders or, conversely, they may appear to be very demanding or intimidating leaders.

Thoughtful leadership style: These leaders prefer to make informed decisions, based on facts and need to take time to reflect. They focus more on efficiency and demonstrating quality results and communicate calmly and clearly. This leadership style can be useful in pressure situations, however, this leader profile does not always demonstrate the enthusiasm or energy necessary to motivate the team to reach its goals.

In relation to the leadership styles presented, it is important to mention that there is no right or wrong style. Each has strengths and weaknesses and each leader must be able to recognize them.

Leadership best practices

Rather than comparing the different leadership styles that exist, it becomes more pertinent to talk about the best leadership practices-

The VAE model, published in The Work of Leaders: How Vision, Alignment and Execution will Change the Way You Lead, presents a simple process based on three steps that are used by leaders:

Create a (V)ision – When implementing a vision (for the future), effective leaders need to explore this idea with their team. The aim is to explore new ideas to be put into practice.

Building Alignment around that vision – After exploring various ideas about an effective future vision, leaders need to communicate consistently and clearly with other employees, explaining the reason behind the “vision”.

Championing (E)xecution – Finally, effective leaders must ensure that ideas around the “vision” are being implemented, evaluating their execution, praising employees, giving feedback, helping to resolve issues that may arise and celebrate success with all team members.

Leadership personalities

There are no good or bad profiles. What becomes relevant in leadership is the leader’s self-awareness and how this characteristic influences the creation of a vision and its execution. It is pertinent to mention that the leader must understand their strengths and weaknesses and work on them, in order to promote the development of their leadership.

Original article: The Important Distinction Between Leadership Styles And Leadership Best Practices

From Self-awareness to Self-development

21 June, 2021 por P4S

Roberta Moore considers that the concept of self-awareness in coaching practice, which is based on the definition of the EQ-i 2.0, corresponds to: “emotional self-awareness is the ability to recognize your feelings and differentiate between them, knowing why the is feeling and what impact they are having on the people around him”.

In this sense, and according to the definition of self-awareness presented, an effective leader recognizes and is aware of the impact that their feelings and, consequently, their way of acting, have on the people around them. A wise leader wants to be in control of how he expresses his emotions and behavior. Leaders who are emotionally self-aware, empathetic, and able to understand the emotions in others often attract more genuine people with higher levels of authenticity.

On the other hand, leaders who are less emotionally self-conscious end up pushing away those around them, as they tend to be focused on themselves, revealing a one-dimensional perspective. These can convey an image of indifference, perish “cold” and excessively direct in contact with others. On the other hand, they can convey contradictory signals or messages, as their body language is not aligned with their words. The congruence between body language, tone of voice and facial expressions becomes important for successful communication.

Roberta Moore gives an example of a client she worked with, revealing that the client scored low on the Emotional Self-Awareness subscale on an Emotional Intelligence assessment instrument. In addition to the aforementioned subscale, the client presented some behaviors, such as: lack of awareness of the impact of his behavior on his employees, lack of congruence between his true feelings and his non-verbal communication and focus on himself instead of focusing too in others.

The client was advised to record their feelings in a diary at three specific times during the day (8am, 12pm and 5pm). Initially, it was clear that the client did not understand what he was feeling at each moment, so he was advised to choose four feelings (crazy, sad, happy or scared) in order to record what he felt. Later, Roberta Moore asked the client to add a topic to her diary that referred to who had been affected by her mood or her daily actions.

By analyzing and collecting this information, the client began to discover how their feelings affected their behavior and how their behavior affected other people.

So, if you want to start increasing your emotional self-awareness, you can follow the steps that will be described below:

1: Start by asking yourself, “Do I know what I’m feeling right now? If I’m worried or serious but appear friendly to others, will I be able to get my point across?”

2: Create a diary to record your emotions at different times in your day. Being able to understand what causes, for example, worry, irritation or sadness in others helps the leader to avoid overreaction/behavior.

3: Ask your colleagues or friends to describe you. The point of view of others can help you improve personal areas that you have not previously been aware of.

In short:

High levels of emotional self-awareness are the essential ingredient for effective and successful leadership. Better self-understanding allows you to increase your motivation (and those around you) and communication. Effective leaders know that, given the ability to understand their emotions, they are also able to understand the emotions in others and make better decisions for their teams.

Original Article: Moving From Self-Awareness To Self-Improvement

Leading through Emotional Intelligence – 5 tips

15 June, 2021 por P4S

Still with the repercussions of Covid-19 (increased levels of stress and social isolation), organizations are increasingly emphasizing the mental health and well-being of their employees. However, organizations still need to implement several strategies in this field, namely to increase the well-being of employees, through leadership based on empathy.

An increase in Emotional Intelligence (EI) becomes essential in organizations, especially with regard to the levels of motivation of teams. Let’s list 5 tips that can be useful to put into practice in the organization, in order to increase the IE of employees and their leaders.

Emotional Intelligence means being vulnerable

As a general rule, leaders are responsible for creating an authentic and real business culture, that is, being open with employees. Teams need to hear feedback about their performance but also about setting expectations.

In the context of teleworking, you can, for example, mention that in a video call there is no problem if a child eventually appears, such as leaving the meeting briefly when necessary. Employees need to understand that everyone is a human being and that they can go through certain experiences together.

Emotional Intelligence means being self-aware

At the heart of EI, self-awareness is one of the least developed areas in leaders. Effectively, we can only work effectively with others if we know each other well.

An exercise that can help develop self-awareness is to spend a few minutes writing down your thoughts and feelings before starting your workday.

Also, assess your strengths and the aspects you need to improve. Once you enter and begin to develop your self-awareness, you will be able to observe your emotions instead of impulsively reacting to them.

Emotional Intelligence means practicing empathy

When we talk about empathy, we see that it has several components, including mental awareness, communication and even body language (eg, observing the tone of voice of others). When interacting with your team, try to take these aspects into account. Employees prefer leaders who know them and care about them as people.

Emotional Intelligence means communicating effectively

The lack of effective communication in the work context leads to frustration among employees. Leaders who consider emotional intelligence and those who put it into practice in their organization have a greater ability to influence, persuade and connect with their teams.

Effective communication can eliminate obstacles and foster stronger relationships at work. As soon as employees perceive their role and contribute to maintaining empathic relationships, for example, there is a sense of accomplishment.

Emotional Intelligence means being self-motivated

Emotionally intelligent individuals understand the meaning of their goals and abilities to increase their self-motivation.

One of the main requirements of leaders is the ability to motivate their employees. But to lead by example, you must first consider your motivation. You can then work to encourage others through IE.

Several studies show that what differentiates exceptional from middle leaders is emotional self-awareness and self-control. By harnessing the “power” of IE, you will be able to increase your employees’ motivation, strengthen cooperation and increase their performance.

Accept the challenge! Be the leader your team needs and the entire organization will receive rewards!

Original Article: 5 Ways To Lead With Emotional Intelligence