We are dedicated to bringing out the best in you and your employees
Volume 3, Number 9 May 3, 2002
http://www.psychologyforbusiness.com/
==============================================================================================
Psychology for Business is a free e-mail newsletter written by
Dr. John Weaver,
Dr. Lynda Dahlke, and Dr. Paul Glass,
business psychologists and independent consultants. It is published bi-weekly.
You’ve received this newsletter because you’ve subscribed to it or it was
forwarded to you by a friend or colleague. To subscribe sign up at our website,
http://www.psychologyforbusiness.com/.
If you wish to unsubscribe, please see the end of this e-mail for easy
instructions
Privacy Statement: We will not distribute the address of any subscriber to
anyone.
We invite you to forward this newsletter, in its entirety, to your colleagues.
==============================================================================================
Archives:
All our previous newsletters are archived
at
http://www.psychologyforbusiness.com/eNewsletter.htm. Check out the series on The Vitamin C’s of an
Emotionally Healthy Workplace, the
series on Dealing with Difficult Employees, links to our Published Articles
and our newest series, Triple "A" Leadership.
==============================================================================================
by Dr. John Weaver, Business Psychologist and Executive Coach
When medical doctors share their expertise with patients and provide them with a prescription that will resolve their health issues, only 30% of those patients will follow the prescription, according to research on treatment adherence. These medical experts have people seeking their advice but the result is often ineffective because it is not followed. As a business leader and expert, do you have the same frustrations? How much difficulty do you have getting your employees or your customers to listen to the solutions you can offer?
This may be one of the great frustrations of business. You know a lot about your area of expertise. You have answers that will work for the problems your employees and customers bring to you. You offer those solutions. And you are ignored.
There are two types of skills necessary for successful leadership, speaking broadly. There are the "hard" skills that include economics, accounting, information technology, strategic planning, etc. But a second set of skills, sometimes referred to as the "soft" skills, is equally important. They are the skills that help us to get our message across to our listeners. Those with highly developed "soft" skills are able to leverage their expertise more effectively. "Soft" skills are the human relationship skills that include:
emotional awareness and management of mood,
the ability to create an atmosphere of trust and growth,
taking actions that result in a deeper level of commitment and integrity, and
discovering the ability to connect to others effectively.
Developing the "soft" skills of executive leadership often brings unexpected results.
At springtime each year, I find myself thinking about what major outdoor project I want to undertake in our yard. Several years ago, the project I chose was to dig a garden pond on the side of our house. When we originally bought our home it came with an old above ground pool. The kids enjoyed it when they were young, but as they got older, the pool became expendable. It could only be used for three months of the year in the Wisconsin climate anyway. We needed something in its place so I decided to make it into a water garden. I read books and looked at the terrain and consulted local vendors and finally I dug the pond. I was able to figure out how to put in a waterfall and my wife, Darlene, decided on the flowers that she wanted to complete the project.
Then something unexpected began to happen. Two trees grew up next to the pond. Other wildflowers began to emerge as well. These unexpected plants seemed to take root in just the right places to accent the pond.
The next spring we noticed the sounds of frogs. (One early summer night our neighbor came over and asked me if I could "turn the frogs off." They were keeping them awake at night. I had to explain to him that these were real frogs and they pretty much arrived on their own. It was hard to keep a straight face.) Dragonflies and butterflies also took up residence. Last year we even had a pair of ducks who nested in our yard and used our pond every morning.
The pond attracted all kinds of unplanned but wonderful surprises. It was one of my best outdoor projects. But much of what has made it so much fun has been what happened after the pond was in place.
I think of the "soft" skills of executive leadership as like a garden pond. It takes planning and hard work to learn these skills. But the benefit is not directly in acquiring the skills; the benefit comes from what these skills attract.
"Soft" Skills include the ability to recognize and regulate our emotional tone. This involves learning to maximize our own potential by using skills that propel us toward peak performance. In a leadership role, this is an important asset. The most direct link to workplace productivity is employee morale. The biggest factor that influences employee morale is the mood of the leadership. When a leader is unable to manage emotions, a work environment results that is antithetical to the goals of the organization.
Learning to accurately become aware of and regulate the emotions that we have is a crucial aspect of excellence in performance. If you watch Tiger Woods on the golf course, his physical skills are not substantially different than most of the others on the PGA tour. His ability to regulate his emotions and to use them in service of his goals are phenomenal. It is what sets him apart. The same is true in business. Those leaders who have been most successful are those who are most able to control and direct their emotions in service of their goals.
In a work environment where leaders are aware of and in control of their emotions, the workforce is able to focus its energy on the tasks to be done. Much emotional energy and time is lost when workers are dealing with a leader who is not able to maintain control. By contrast, the best and the brightest workers seek an environment where they can utilize their talents to the fullest. When leaders have this soft skill, the best and the brightest workers are attracted.
Some leaders seem to have the ability to draw out the best in their employees. This "soft" skill is more and more important as the organization grows. When an organization is small, it may be possible for the owner to handle most or all of the critical tasks to create a successful business. But when the organization grows, the responsibility of leadership changes. Outstanding leaders are often not the most talented at technical skills, they are the ones who have learned to be good judges of talent and excellent at nurturing the best in their employees.
When someone becomes a "star" performer, there is another person in the background who saw the talent and worked with the person to bring out and even refine their abilities. Great leaders do not find themselves surrounded with stars by accident. Great leaders encourage greatness in those around them.
Great leaders also had to learn to use their talents in a way that achieved greatness. No one accomplishes this on their own. There is an art to finding great talent. There is also a science to it. And there is a a lot of hard work to it. The art, the science, and the effort combine to increase the use of talents in all of the workforce. When an employee is able to fully use his or her talent, an atmosphere of growth is created. Human beings want to believe that they are using their talents to contribute. When someone believes his or her talents are valued, motivation levels soar. The "soft" skill of nurturing talent is a powerful resource for success.
Effective leaders find that using the "soft" skills engenders deep commitment in employees. This might be almost unnoticed in their interactions because these leaders will be deeply committed themselves to the values and goals that match their integrity.
If the skill of emotion regulation is focused on internal awareness, (what are you feeling?) and the skill of nurturing creativity is external, (how do you bring out the best in your workforce?) the skill of fostering deep commitment is a skill of combining internal awareness and external focus and blending these attributes into a whole that improves the function of the entire organization. It is much easier to follow someone who is authentic. Emotional control and concern to develop the best in the workforce make the leader’s words ring true.
When these skills are learned and practiced, surprising results begin to accrue. As the organization begins to function in greater harmony, the business grows. It is a very pleasant side effect that these "soft" skills attract committed and enthusiastic customers. Customers who interact with organizations that have strong and effective leadership become your best sales force. They convince friends and acquaintances that your expertise is worth paying attention to and worth paying for.
Soft skills are difficult to measure because they do not have a direct impact on the bottom line. You cannot count up the number of times you were aware of your mood and measure the profit that results. Yet they set the background for the specific hard skills to function effectively. They attract the right workers and supply them with the right tools to do the job. They attract the best customers and create long term loyalty. If you really want to succeed, you cannot afford to be without them.
Soft skills are the essential tools of effective leadership.
==============================================================================================
Did you know that executive coaching is not geographically limited? Coaching by telephone is effective.
It is also an efficient use of time and resources. You never need to leave
your office to travel, nor do you need to pay travel expenses for your coach. In a recent study of executive
coaching in a multinational company, the return on investment was calculated to
be 529%! If financial benefits from retention of employees were included,
the ROI jumped even higher, to 788%. To find out if coaching is right for
you, contact us to schedule a FREE 1/2 hour consultation. Call us at:
(262) 789-2728 or email us at
mailto:success@psychologyforbusiness.com. ==============================================================================================
About the Author
John Weaver, Psy.D. is a
licensed psychologist with 22 years’ professional experience working with
organizations, groups, and individuals. He has experience leading groups and
creating teamwork in
organizations. His areas of expertise include assisting teams and individuals to
improve performance under stress, assessing employees and potential employees to
ensure the right person for the right job, working toward conflict resolution,
and training in stress management and "stress hardiness" skills for individuals
and groups. He is an experienced public speaker.
Based in Waukesha, WI, Dr. John Weaver is
available for consultation or executive coaching by phone, e-mail or in person. He may be
reached at (262) 789-2728 (office) or (414) 491-8719 (cell), by e-mail:
mailto:jweaver@psychologyforbusiness.com or:
John Weaver, Psy.D.
Psychology for Business
2717 North Grandview Boulevard, Suite 303
Waukesha, Wisconsin, 53188
==============================================================================================
Save your company big money! Reduce the frustrations of your managers.
Learn what works. Hot off the press: Your first practical guide to Managing
Difficult Personalities in Your Workplace! Very user friendly.
Extremely practical.
Order your copy of this new book, Managing Difficult Personalities in the Workplace: A Manager’s Practical Guide, by Dr. Paul Kenneth Glass.
Send your name, address, number of copies desired and a check made out to Dr. Paul Kenneth Glass for $12 per book (plus $2 shipping per book). Or order 10 or more copies for $10 per book and $6.95 for shipping (up to 50 copies).
No fluff, this book gets right to the point.
Send orders to:
Dr. Paul Kenneth
Glass
Psychology for Business
2717 N. Grandview Blvd. #303
Waukesha, WI 53188
Phone: (262) 544-6486 Fax: (262) 544-6377 Email: mailto:pglass@psychologyforbusiness.com
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
==============================================================================================
Announcing FREE one hour virtual classes by
telephone conference call (you only pay for
long distance telephone charges,
usually $4 to $6 per class):
Friday, May 17, 2002 at 10:00
AM Central Standard Time:
STRESS MANAGEMENT FOR THE REAL WORLD
Health related costs continue to rise for
businesses and employees. Research regularly identifies stress-related problems as the most expensive contributor to overall cost. Find out how you can begin to address this issue for yourself and for your company in this free one-hour telephone conference call.
The evaluations for this session included comments like, “I would appreciate a follow up session to delve deeper into the topic.” “Excellent – not enough time.” “Excellent – Not at all like other stress management classes! I
really enjoyed it and learned a lot.” “More of this kind of thing
would be very helpful – Addressing all aspects of
professional/personal development is important.”
To register: Send an email to
mailto:jweaver@psychologyforbuinsess.com?subject=Stress. Please include
your name, your organization and your email address. Upon registration you will
receive the telephone conference number to call and instructions for how to
connect.
Friday, June 14, 2002 at 1:00
PM Central Standard Time:
ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL RISK FOR VIOLENCE
It is not enough to react to a violent action after it has occurred. In this seminar we will discuss practical steps your organization can take to lower the risks for this terrible tragedy. Included will be information about resources for your organization.
To register: Send an email to mailto:jweaver@psychologyforbuisnes.com?subject=RISK. Please include your name, your organization and your email address. Upon registration you will receive the telephone conference number to call and instructions for how to connect.
==============================================================================================
We appreciate feedback on the published articles we have
written or in which we have been featured.
If you have comments about the articles written by Dr.
John Weaver in Executive Update Magazine including,
"Overcoming Work Anxiety" or
"Addictions in the Workplace"
please direct
comments to
mailto:jweaver@psychologyforbusiness.com. If you have comments about the
feature of Dr. Lynda Dahlke in Corporate Report Wisconsin, "Calling
in the Coach" send an email to
mailto:ldahlke@psychologyforbusiness.com.
We love to hear from you!
==============================================================================================
To subscribe visit us at our website:
==============================================================================================
Dr. John Weaver publishes another newsletter, co-authored by
Darlene Weaver, THE
CENTERED PENDULUM. It is our firm belief that lifelong
patterns of “being” (personality, attitudes, emotions) and “doing” (lifestyle,
adaptability, coping skills) interact with our genes and environment to create
conditions of a healthy or a diseased brain. If you would like to read
previous issues of the Centered Pendulum newsletter or to subscribe, please
visit the archives at
http://www.centeredpendulum.org/newsletters.htm.
==============================================================================================