Linda Jordon

5 Common Reasons Why Leaders Fail

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 18:14:32 GMT

Good leadership is both an art and a science, a skill that can be enhanced through diligent research and study, and one that each person needs to be able to adapt to their own personality and way of thinking. In my opinion, managing this complex push and pull is one of the most difficult aspects of being a leader. Because there is no exact formula to follow. And yet, quality leaders don’t just show up and wing it either.

Therefore, given its lack of a cohesive one size fits all approach, it is clear that the leadership process requires a lot of trial and error. This means that all leaders, even the best among us, are going to fail at times as they try something new or rely too heavily on a tactic that may have lost some of its effectiveness. When you do fail, which again is inevitable, the key is to examine why, so that you can modify your strategy moving forward, and try not to make the same mistakes over and over again.

WIth that in mind let’s take a broader look at some common reasons why leaders may fail, so that we can all be better prepared for leadership successes moving forward.

5 Reasons Why Leaders Fail

They Try To Be Someone Else - We all have this picture of what a leader is supposed to be in our head: the tough as nails football coach who gives the fiery halftime pep talks, the steely politician who doesn’t blink an eye even as her adversary threatens nuclear war. In our mind’s eye, this is what a leader should look like. This is what we often try to emulate. But why? Good leaders, like people who are good at just about anything in life, come in all shapes and sizes. Introverts and extroverts. Quiet and loud. Passionate and calm. The first key to being an effective leader is to be yourself. If you aren’t genuine, your fellow team members will know. And no one chooses to follow a fake.
They Get Too Set In Their Ways - Good leaders are constantly adapting. This first requires them to continuously assess their own performance. Sometimes, when things seem to be working, it can be hard to take a step back and look at your methods with a critical eye until its too late. Good leaders know just because something worked before, doesn’t mean it will look again. And they are not afraid of changing if they know it will help their business, team, or organization get to where it needs to go.
They Don’t Communicate Well - No one can read your mind. This is true whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or a new entrepreneur starting a business in their garage. Unfortunately, on occasion even the best leaders can forget this and mistakenly believe that just because something seems clear to them, it will be clear to others as well. Whether it is your employees or your customers, it is important to over communicate, and explain not only what you want done and when, but why. That way your team members can properly understand their purpose and see where they fit into the bigger picture of your organization.
They Don’t Delegate Well - It may sound cliche, but it is true that there are only so many hours in a day, meaning that no one can do everything by themselves. One of the key traits of a good leader is an ability to coach the members of their organization so that they can outsource important tasks while having full faith that it will be handled in a competent manner.
They Set Improper Expectations - In any organization, each position is different, with a distinct set of responsibilities and workload. In addition, the holders of these positions are all unique, with their own individual motivations and goals. Oftentimes, managers fail to see what makes the people they are tasked with leading tick, and try to treat all their employees equally instead of fairly. But the truth is, none of your team members are the same. So why would you treat them that why?

This is just a small glimpse at some of the common mistakes that we all can make as leaders. Please reach out and follow this page to learn more about how to become the best leader you can, both inside and outside the office!

Tips And Tricks For Managing A Remote Workforce

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:59:29 GMT

There is no question about it: the world has changed. And while vaccines and better public health practices have caused the COVID-19 pandemic to become less all-encompassing than it once was, some of the work adaptations that it caused so many of us to take could well be here to stay. The biggest of which may be the rise of the remote office, as many of the workers who headed home during the height of the pandemic have found that they prefer logging on in their bathrobes while saving time on their commutes, and many businesses, now that they have seen that their employees are still productive when working from their kitchen tables, have realized the cost savings inherent to leasing smaller amounts of office space.

However, just because remote work is becoming more common, that doesn’t mean executives, leadership teams, and business owners are familiar with how to manage a workforce with whom they are not sharing physical space. Digitally supervising employees is not something most managers are trained how to do, but it is something you can do, as long as you are willing to adapt your approach and utilize some of the tips and tricks for directing remote workers we have shared below.

5 Tips For Managing Remote Employees

Ensure Your Employees Have The Right Tools: Whether it is proper technological applications, software, equipment, or physical supplies, as a manager of a remote team, you are responsible for guaranteeing that your employees are provided with everything they need to get do their job as competently and efficiently as they could in the office.
Schedule Times For Employee Contact: One of the challenges of remote workers is how difficult it can make it to replicate the social interactions that naturally take place in an office. To remedy this, schedule time for you and your employees to touch base, both as a team and individually. Initially it may seem forced, but it can be important for each of your employees to know that they have time on their manager’s calendar, so they do not feel isolated by your lack of physical contact.
Set Clear Expectations: One of the benefits of remote work is that it allows employees to feel like they are not chained to their desks. However, it is important that you, as a manager, set clear expectations for your work force’s output, time management, availability and more. If your employees understand what is expected of them, it will be easier for them to transition to a remote working environment without feeling burdened by the lack of boundaries or distracted by other aspects of their lives.
But Be Flexible: While the setting of clear expectations are important for a remote working environment, it is also vital that managers use the flexibility now afforded their workers to their advantage. Employees now have more methods through which to get their job done than ever before. If they would like to log-on and off earlier in the day to get their work done in the morning and be done by the time their kids get home from school, that is OK, as long as they are still working without your expectations and producing at a satisfactory level.
Trust Your Team: Micromanaging your remote workers can be tempting, but unless you are the kind of leader who is constantly peeking over their employee’s shoulders at the office, you shouldn’t conduct yourself in such a way with your remote employees either. At the end of the day your goal is to hire professional, competent employees, who you can trust to be productive and efficient. That doesn’t change when workers leave the office. In a remote workplace, you may be able to see your employees less frequently, but if you hire the right people and set clear goals and expectations, that should have little impact on their performance.

How Business Leaders Can Become Better Communicators

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:51:10 GMT

Of all the characteristics that are required of successful leaders, communication is perhaps one of the most underrated. Without the ability to effectively convey information to colleagues, employees, and clients, it is impossible to sell your vision to the people whose help you’ll need to realize it.

But while we know how important effective communication is to the success of any organization, it can sometimes be daunting for new, or even experienced, business leaders to develop or refine their communication skills. Below is a list of ways in which any manager, executive, or employee can become a communicator.

5 Ways For Business Leaders To Improve Their Communication Skills

Learn To Adapt Your Communication Style - According to recent studies, different communication styles is the most frequently cited cause for poor workplace communication. As a manager, it is important that you understand not only your own leadership style, but what motivates your individual employees, so that you can tailor your message in a way that will help it land, no matter who you are sharing it with.
Become A Better Listener - Listening is as important to successful communication as talking, if not more so. Therefore as a leader it is imperative to practice active listening skills in conversations with your employees. Pose questions, ask them to elaborate, and take their words to heart. Allowing your team to feel listened to can make a big difference in their performance.
Learn How To Read And Express Body Language - Paying attention to your conversation partner’s body language can help you determine how comfortable they are with expressing their views to you. In turn, by utilizing open body language, a leader can establish a rapport with their employees and create a more empathetic environment.
Focus On Clarity - When imparting information, it is critical to be as specific and detailed as possible. Your team will better understand and be prepared to execute the tasks you are asking of them if you clearly define the desired results, the process they need to follow, and the timeline in which you hope to accomplish it.
Find Common Ground - Communicating is easier when the two people partaking in it enjoy a shared interest. Remember that small talk can sometimes be necessary! It can help you build connections and deliver your messages more efficiently.

There are a lot of other ways in which to improve your communication skills. Don’t be afraid to seek the resources both here and elsewhere that you may need to become a better communicator, and ultimately a more effective leader!

The Difference Between A Growth And Fixed Mindset

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:46:58 GMT

Adopt a growth mindset. That’s a buzzy phrase you will see all over the internet, whether it is advice you will get on LinkedIn or a link to an academic study one of your friends randomly posts on their social media, and for good reasons. Science shows that growth mindsets, or one in which a person believes that their intelligence and talents can be developed over time, are more beneficial than fixed ones, or mindsets in which people believe that said development is not possible.

And that makes sense right? Growth mindsets encourage people to take a positive outlook towards learning, and allows them to believe that they can get better at certain skills or tasks that they may currently struggle with. But, let’s drill down even further. Because cultivating and maintaining a growth mindset can offer you specific benefits that will make you a better leader, employee, parent, or anything else! And here’s how.

5 Specific Advantages Of Adopting A Growth Mindset

Growth Mindsets allow you to focus on the process - By believing in and focusing on progress and the ability to improve over time, growth mindsets teach people to care less about the results and more about discovering the best way to tackle a particular challenge or problem in the future. While failure at a particular task may offer holders of a fixed mindset proof that they cannot achieve something, the only message it sends to those with growth mindsets is that, while they cannot achieve it now, with more time or effort they will be able to moving forward.
Growth Mindsets don’t require outside validation - By definition, a person with a fixed mindset can only be validated through the receiving of praise and acclaim from others. Because they believe they cannot progress their skills in the future, those with fixed mindsets need to get positive results right this second to believe that they, either now or in the future, will possess the talent or skill necessary to accomplish something. Those with growth mindsets, however, understand that they can continue to learn and grow, and that even if they don’t receive praise for their work today, they may be able to on one of their next attempts.
Those with growth mindsets handle feedback better - Related to the point above, people with growth mindsets can handle constructive feedback from others because they acknowledge, up front, that they can get better and improve with more time and effort. Fixed mindset holders, however, will often take feedback for criticism, and use it as further proof that they cannot do something difficult.
Growth mindsets help you to become more realistic and resilient - Due to their belief in their future improvement, those who carry a growth mindset will more readily accept failure, and bounce back from it, knowing that a specific disappointment doesn't have to be permanent. Therefore, growth mindsets also help people to establish realistic expectations, because they don’t need to be perfect on their first try.
Growth Mindsets make you more comfortable taking risks - Because they fear failure less, those with growth mindsets are more willing to take risks, or trying something new. Meanwhile, those with fixed mindsets miss out on a lot of rewards and benefits, because they are afraid of the failure that might come their way if they attempt to do something hard that they may not have attempted before.

This is just a small glimpse at the specific attributes and characteristics that you can start to develop by adopting a growth mindset. Keeping reading about and researching growth mindsets to learn more, and remember that adopting a growth mindset, like anything worth doing, takes constant effort and practice in order to get it right.

How To Achieve A Growth Mindset

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:15:53 GMT

Whether you know it or not, a growth mindset is one of the most important attributes a small business owner can develop. Embracing a growth mindset can help anyone to better face challenges, learn from constructive criticism, and persist in the face of adversity. It may seem obvious given its name, but achieving and maintaining a growth mindset is a crucial aspect to becoming an adaptable leader who can help both your business, and your employees, find success.

But how does one go about obtaining one? Like almost anything else, growth mindsets take a lot of effort and hard work. They also take a plan, one you can start to put together by reviewing some of the initial steps below.

5 Steps To Developing A Growth Mindset

Honestly Assess Where You’re At Now - The first step to developing a growth mindset is to determine where you stand now. Do you embrace challenges or shy away from them? Do you want to learn more about your field or believe you already know everything? Devising a plan for adapting a growth mindset is the same as anything else: you can’t know where to go, if you don’t know where you stand right now.
Start To View Challenges As Opportunities - One of the biggest aspects of a growth mindset is embracing obstacles as opposed to hiding from them. Remember that fear is natural, and we are often afraid of challenges because they are hard and we know that we might not always be able to rise up to meet them. But failure isn’t a sign of lack of skill or intelligence. It is an important part of the learning process.
Ask For Constructive Feedback - Receiving feedback or even criticism on our leadership style or performance can often be uncomfortable or even hurtful. However, without it we can’t improve or learn. Inviting feedback, and learning from it, is an important step to establishing a growth mindset and bettering our management skills.
Stop Caring About Others Approval - When we make pleasing other people our primary objective, we often lose sight of what our primary goal should be. If you are trying to learn and grow, then it shouldn’t be about seeking approval from others. It should, and is, about adapting and evolving into the best version of yourself.
Celebrate Others Success - A key component of a growth mindset is an ability to be motivated by the success of others. More than just celebrating the triumphs of your contemporaries and peers, approach them with a healthy level of curiosity, using them as a template from which you can learn to accomplish similar success of your own.

This is just a brief glimpse into some of the methods through which to emphasize a growth mindset in both your business and your everyday life. Please follow along with our social media for more information on how to take your business and leadership skills to the next level!

What Makes A Good Leader?

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 17:07:14 GMT

There’s an old axiom that “leaders are born not made.” The problem with this adage, like many others that have been around for far longer than they should be, is that it’s just not true. Science says that, while leadership does have a genetic component, over 70% of total leadership skills are learned , not inherited. This means that all of us, no matter our background, have the capacity to become a better leader.

But how? The first step in understanding how to improve your own leadership skills is, of course, understanding what characteristics make somebody a good leader to begin with. That’s the question I’m going to investigate here, while helping us all to figure out what we need to work on to become better leaders in the process.

5 Things All Good Leaders Do

Communicate Clearly - Whether providing feedback to a team member in a face-to-face setting, or reaching out to a coworker via email, good leaders are able to engage in honest and straightforward communication with the people they manage. Practicing active communication skills, both when speaking and listening, with your employees can create an open atmosphere wherein each member of your team feels empowered to complete the tasks assigned to them.
Set Achievable Goals - Setting both short-term and long-term goals is an important aspect of achieving success, as is communicating those goals clearly to your team so they know what is expected of them. In this sense, communication and goal-setting go hand-in-glove, as goals and expectations cannot be met if leaders are not sharing them with the rest of their team in a comprehensive manner.
Teach Instead Of Tell - Good leaders know which skills are important for which team members to learn, and then invest a lot of their time and energy into ensuring that their employees attain all the skills that they need. This means that good leaders show instead of tell, and coach the people that work for them instead of ordering them around.
Encourage Personal Relationship Building - In addition to investing in the professional knowledge-base and trajectory of your employees, good leaders set aside time to connect with their team members on a personal level. Doing this will allow managers to not only build relationships with the people that work with them, but also to understand their coworker’s motivations, and how to best reach, encourage, and motivate them.
Share Their Success With Others - Like we teach our children, sharing is caring, a lesson that remains useful when discussing workplace dynamics just like it is inside a kindergarten classroom. Therefore it stands to reason that leaders need to share whatever acclaim and glory comes in the same way that 5-year-olds need to share their toys and cookies. With that in mind, remember that tooting your own horn and believing your own hype has never gotten any leader anywhere. Acknowledging the role that those around you placed in your success, however, can help your team members to feel valued, and make them more likely to continue to follow you moving forward.

These are simply a small subset of the skills that every good leader needs to develop, but it’s a start! Check in on my upcoming posts to learn more about what makes a good leader, and the skills and attributes every leader needs to display.

Equity vs Equality: What’s The Difference And Why Does It Matter?

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 19:56:00 GMT

Thankfully, as events in our society have forced Corporate America (and our nation as a whole) to more closely examine its collective diversity and inclusion efforts, companies across the country have tried to implement new measures to make their workplaces more tolerant and culturally sensitive environments. This increase in awareness is, of course, a good thing. But while businesses large and small set out towards these noble objectives, it is important that they know exactly what it is they are fighting for.

Equity and Equality are not the same. And while both terms have similar definitions, the way they are understood and ultimately implemented into any organization could lead to drastically different results. Let’s take a look at what each of these principles mean, and how they can, and should, be incorporated into any business or workplace.

Equity vs. Equality: What's the Difference

The difference between equity and equality is inherent, and yet often goes unconsidered or misunderstood. Equality is the state of being equal; equity is the quality of being fair or impartial. These descriptions may sound synonymous to many, but they are not. As any parent with multiple children knows, what is fair and what is equal or often not the same thing.

Essentially equality is about giving an individual or a group the exact same resources or opportunities, while equity takes into account each person’s unique circumstances and allocates the resources or opportunities as needed to give everyone the same chance of reaching a desired outcome. In a model emphasizing equality, every student gets the same amount of time to take a standardized test. In one focused around equity, students with learning challenges are given extra time to better ensure that they can fully comprehend the material.

E quity and Equality: Why They’re Both Important

As a more objective ideal, equality is often an easier concept to both understand and incorporate. Installing true equity however, while certainly a more subjective undertaking, is perhaps an even more crucial aim for any business or workplace. In the best case scenario, stressing equity in your employee hiring, training, and development processes, will lead to great equality when it comes to the makeup of your senior staff and corporate leadership.

Basically equality, whether that be in the makeup of your board, the composition of your corporate executives, or any other measure, is what you should strive for as a result of your diversity and inclusion efforts. But reinforcing equity in those efforts is the only way to get there. Without understanding and addressing the needs of all your employees, especially those from underrepresented groups that have been historically marginalized, you’ll never give any of them a fair chance at rising up the ladder and succeeding in your organization.

To learn more, connect with Dr. Linda Jordon at: www.lindajordon.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindajordon/

Book time with me: https://letsmeet.io/lindajordon/discoverycall

What are Companies Doing to Become More Inclusive?

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 13:50:00 GMT

In the past couple of years, diversity and inclusion have become popular buzzwords in the corporate community. And for good reason. For far too long these ideals were either ignored by executives and managers, or not emphasized strongly enough, often creating workplaces that were closed off and overly selective, and professional cultures where the hiring and upward mobility of members of underrepresented groups was not the priority it needed to be.

That being said, while talking about inclusion in the workplace, or at times the lack thereof, is a step in the right direction, the question now becomes: what are companies actually doing to make their workplaces more tolerant, open-minded, and diverse? The good news is, there are several steps that are being taken by organizations across corporate America to create a more inclusive environment for their employees. Let’s take a look at some of the actions they’re taking, and see what we can learn from them.

4 Steps Companies can take to Increase Inclusion

Adjust Candidate Screening: It is believed that as many as 80% of jobs are never posted online , relying instead on internal referrals and promotions. However, this screening process can become a major obstacle for a company’s inclusion efforts, especially if their staff already lacks the diversity they’re looking for. Therefore, it is important for executives and hiring managers to focus less on filling open positions internally, and instead make sure that vacant jobs are posted in places that can help them garner a diverse pool of applicants, including nontraditional websites and other outlets.
Establish Formal Mentorship Programs: Studies show that applicants or employees from underrepresented groups may be less likely to find mentors on their own than white men . Therefore, it is important for companies to start specific mentorship programs targeting women, people of color, and other minority communities. The data shows these kind of targeted programs can increase the a corporation’s number of black, Hispanic, and Asian-American managers of both sexes by anywhere between 9-24%.
Emphasize Diversity And Inclusion Priorities Across The Organization: According to Forbes , almost 97% of employers reported introducing new diversity and inclusion initiatives in the past year. However, only 24% of employees claimed to have any knowledge of these new measures. What these numbers show us is that it’s imperative for companies to communicate the significance of diversity and inclusion to all their employees, so that they can earn buy-in across the organization. Without doing this, it is difficult, if not impossible, for any business to create meaningful change.
Set Defined Goals: Sodexo, a food management provider, has outlined their diversity hiring strategy, and publicly stated their goal of having women represent at least 40% of their overall senior leadership staff . As a result of these efforts, the company was listed on the 2020 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index , and women currently make up some 37% of its executive committee . The lesson here? It is a lot easier to make progress towards a goal when it is specific, well-defined, and openly aspired to.

This list represents just the tip of the iceberg, but it is a good place to start as business and corporate leaders look for ways to boost their diversity endeavors, and make their workplaces more inclusive for staff members from all different backgrounds.