Leaders Communicate

"Communication is a wonderful thing - but you need to do it!" It's one of my favorite expressions that I use often with my family and employees. All of us communicate is a wide variety of ways. People much smarter than I am have proposed several factors that Goman* refers to as "The Silent Language of Leaders"...

• FACE FOLKS DIRECTLY - even a slight turn away creates a barrier indicating a lack of interest. Close your laptop, turn off that cell phone, put away briefcase



• POSITIVE EYE CONTACT MATTERS - look directly into my eyes. As long as you are looking at me I believe I have your full attention



• OPEN GESTURES WORK - keep movements relaxed, show the palm of your hands. These are signals of credibility and candor. Arms crossed, hands hidden create barriers.



• USE YOUR HEAD - Nod your head the next time you want another person to talk more. Research shows that people will talk 3 to 4 times more than usual when the listener nods.



• SMILE - it directly influences how other people respond. Smiling is contagious - people smile back which can change a person's emotional state both listener and speaker

*"The Silent Language of Leaders" by Dr. Carol Kinsey Gorman

Choose Your Attitude

Taking responsibility for how your respond to life when it happens - and it does - impacts everyone around us. Not just the people with whom we work but family, friends, neighbors, store clerks and people passing by on the street. It begs the question "Is my attitude helping my team, (family, clients? Is it helping me be the person I want to be?

There is always a choice about the way you do your work even if there's not a choice about the work itself. Some may feel like there isn't a choice about where to work - maybe you're not qualified to do what you really want to do and don't have the resources to get additional training. Perhaps you aren't able to move from where you live due to familal obligations and where you live offers little choice. So changing the workplace or geography may not be an option. But the way in which you do it IS a choice.

When you are doing what you are doing, who are you being? Are you crabby? completely unapproachable? Or are you being the absolute best you can be? Being the best you can be is infectious and can reap huge rewards...

• Accepting that attitude IS a choice demonstrates a level of accountability and proactivity that fills the workplace


• Choosing your attitude and playing the victim are mutually exclusive


• Making the decision to bring your best self to work allows us to bring our best qualities to work even though we are not able to do exactly what we want at the time

IT IS A CHOICE!

Leader or Follower?

"True LEADERS act with courage not fear;
Stand tall in the face of adversity and
Go where few have gone before!"


It's tough to be a good leader. Leadership is often thrust upon us with not formal training and yet we so want to excel at it. The question often emerges - what do I do first when there's so much that has to be done? No doubt about it - the multi-tasking duties and deadlines and challenging goals that professionals face each day are stressful. So what can we do to maintain a positive attitude and keep stress in check?

We often hear about stress being the result of being overworked, but postponing tasks leads to more worry and increased anxiety than lots of work ever does. You can actually overcome certain types of stress by picking up the pace of your work and here's how:

-Avoid postponing jobs - Tackle them head-on. Begin with the most unpleasant tasks first.
-Be the master of your day - rather than react to each day's circumstances, list and prioritize daily tasks then stay focused on their completion.
-Delegate - only do what you HAVE to do. Much of what we do each day could easily be done by others, those who report to us, our colleagues, our friends. We choose to do things not because we have to but because we think no one else can do them as well. They really can!! -Challenge yourself - don't stop after you've completed the first one - keep going. You'll be surprised how much more you can accomplish by taking a break and then returning to what's next.

While you may feel some level of stress related to working harder, the resulting reward of accomplishment will transform worry and anxiety into improved self-confidence and self-satisfaction.

And that reduces stress. And that's Leadership!