Debra Kasowski, Author at Debra Kasowski

5 Secrets of Effective Delegation

December 1, 2014 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
― John C. Maxwell

Throughout my career, I have witnessed several forms of delegation. Some leaders were very effective at delegation whereas others were not so effective. If you think of some of the leaders or managers you have worked with, you can probably tell us why each person was more effective at delegating than the other. What did the effective manager or leader do differently?

Delegation can be a very powerful tool in empowering employees and assigning work to the most appropriate person with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to produce the best work. When I was learning how to do CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), one of the first steps you do is to call for help and better yet if someone else is available you would say, “You in the blue shirt go call 911. Are you going? Get back to me.” The instruction is very specific and ensures that the person is going to follow through. Delegation is not sending an email and pleading for help. You may not know if the person or group of people have read the email, what their capacity is, or what their skill set or interests are.

During a time when employees and leaders are asked to do more with less, delegation is the key to allowing you to focus on where your greatest return on investment is.

Are there tasks that others can do better than you?

Are there tasks that require only your attention?

Are there tasks or research that can be done before you make a decision?

If you said “Yes” to any of the questions, you can start delegating some tasks to others but keep the following secrets of effective delegation close at hand:

Set clear expectations of roles and responsibilities. If the person you delegate a task to does not understand what their roles is or what the expectations are, they are bound for failure. As the captain at the head of the ship, you will go down as well if you do not course correct. Clear expectations minimize disappointments and misunderstandings. How much freedom does the person have to make decisions? Do they have to check in with you or the team before proceeding? Empower the people who work for you by letting them know what you need.
Share your vision of what you want to accomplish. The more specific you can be about what you wish to accomplish, the more clarity you provide to your people. They will be better able to help you accomplish the vision. They may even have suggestions in how to achieve it. When your people share your vision, they will be motivated to help achieve it because it has importance to them.
Ensure you delegate the whole task and set milestones for check in and progress. There is nothing worse than someone delegating something and then watching or questioning your every move. Delegation is not micromanagement. Micromanagement is suffocating and stumps creativity and innovation. The person you delegated to will feel as though you do not trust them to get the job well.
Delegate the right work to the right person. Delegation is about providing meaningful work where a person feels they are taking on more responsibility not just adding to the amount of work they already have. Delegate to the person who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job well. Reassure them that you will be there to support them if required. Not only will they feel empowered but you as the leader will also look like a superstar!
Be specific. When assigning a task, ensure the person has all the information and resources to get the job done. Ask them to repeat back to you what you have asked them to do. Clarification ensures that the person you delegated to have a clear understanding of what it is you want done. People cannot read your mind so tell them what you want.

People often have more skills and abilities than what you may give them credit for. Chances are the people who work for you have a greater potential than they are even aware of. Why not safely empower, stretch them, and build their capacity to do great things?

“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

― Thomas A. Edison

What delegation skills have you gained that make you an effective manager or leader?

I Can See Clearly Now

November 17, 2014 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

I am in the midst of obtaining my certification in Emotional Intelligence and we were discussing the downsides of possessing too much of a strong characteristic. It got me thinking about a blog post I recently wrote called Time to Shift from Challenges to Opportunity. I am not second guessing what I wrote, however, I can see how people may see me as somewhat of a Pollyanna or someone wearing rose coloured glasses or even a blue sky thinker.

I do believe that you can create some of your circumstances with the power of your mind and how you respond to situation. In the Emotional Intelligence psychometric tool (EQi 2.0), there is a sub-scale or competency called reality testing. According to Stein and Book (2006), “The best simple-sentence definition of reality testing is that it is capacity to see things objectively, the way things are, rather than the way we wish or fear them to be.” Reality testing is important but I do not think it should stop people from dreaming and creating a business, shifting the culture of an industry, or creating a life you love.

Courtesy of Scott Chan/freedigitalphotos.net

Develop Clarity. It is important for you to assess where you are and know where it is you want to go. Once you develop clarity about what it is you want, you will be able to start seeing the “how” in which you wish to get there.

Be Open to Opportunity. I cannot stress this enough from the previous blog post. I want you to know no matter what circumstances you find yourself in that you always have choices and options. You can either choose to do something differently or the situation may force you into doing something different. How do I know this? Think about all the choices you have made to get you to where you are today.

Watch the Words You Use. Your thoughts, feelings, and behavior affect the actions that you take. If you focus on challenges, you may miss the opportunity waiting in the wings.

Ask Others for Their Insight but Make Your Own Decision. You probably have heard the saying, “You are so close to the situation, you cannot see the forest through the trees.” When you are the the midst of a situation, it may be difficult for you to either see the situation for what it is or the big picture as to how it impacts yourself or others. You may have exhausted ideas and hit the wall and do not know where to turn.

Some people think asking for assistance is a weakness, whereas, I see it as one of the powerful things a person can do. Asking others for their perspective can help you challenge assumptions and perhaps see a different perspective. A story I love to share is one I read long ago in an Anthony Robbins book where Walt Disney asked his employees input into a dilemma or creative idea. Employees submitted idea after idea. Not only did he empower his employees, he reviewed all these ideas and it helped him become one of the innovative leaders of the century.

If you are facing a challenge, try testing your reality. Do you see one of the challenges you face as a true fact or do you see as an opportunity to do something differently? Believe me, I catch myself when I start viewing situations as challenges and setbacks. I also need to remind myself to look at the possibilities and opportunities before me. Situations are temporary – both positive and negative. I will start to plan, prepare, and challenge myself to rise above the situation and you can too.

Courtesy of graur codrin/freedigitalphotos.net

I can see clearly now – I chose to look at the bright side. When you focus on the strengths and the clear vision you have for yourself, opportunities will start to present themselves.

What do you see? What choice will you make?

Share this blog post with others so they too can see clearly now.

Stein, Steven J. and Book, Howard E. (2006) The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success. 3rd edition.John Wiley & Sons Canada. Mississauga, Ontario.

The Mindset that Will Cost You Your Dreams

November 12, 2014 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

There is one mindset that can cost you your dreams if you give it space. It sneaks up on you and can infiltrate your mind if you let it. You can create it with your imagination and take it anywhere you want. It sabotages any success you may have been achieving.

Can you guess what it is?

It is the “victim” mindset.

The victim mindset develops from comparing yourself to others and feeling that you are not enough. All you see is how great their life is, but you are part of their life 100% of the time.

You look at past setbacks and see your self as a complete failure without looking for the lessons. Therefore, you may even repeat the same mistakes. Maybe you didn’t learn it for the first time so history repeated itself.

Go easy on yourself. We are so quick to criticize ourselves but my guess is that you would not be so hard on your best friend. Maybe you need to be a best friend to yourself. Be a little kinder to yourself – it may even ripple into the rest of your world.

The victim mindset can steal your joy and your happiness. It can destroy friendships.

The people who you are inspired by should not be people you compare yourself to. They are people you should aspire to be like knowing that you too can do the same. There is a proven track record to be won.

I encourage you to strive for your personal best as this is really the only race worth running or fighting for. Every person has their own lane – it can be fast or slow you choose by the choices you make.

I love to inspire others but motivation comes from within. I want to see people rise above the chaos and past hurts. I want people to raise the bar just a bit higher than last year knowing that they can do it – because they are worth it and can achieve it.

I have been there but what I have learned is that you have control over how long you stay in that place. What you focus and bring your attention to, you get more of. So have the “pity party” or the Eeyore moments and let it go! Shift gears – there is so much more for you to accomplish. The victim mindset will just slow you down. Don’t let it. A positive mindset will take you places bigger than your dreams as long as you take action and put in the effort.

Whether you are a professional, executive or entrepreneur, your mindset needs to be “game on”. You do not have the time or luxury for negative self-talk. Talk back to it and put it in its place. Learn from your lessons – that is what life is about. You are here to make an impact. You are here as Gandhi eloquently said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Why? Cause you and your dreams are worth it! You are the one and only – give your best!

Be victorious!

Go ahead and share how your shift your thinking into a positive state of mind!

Time to Shift from Challenges to Opportunity

November 8, 2014 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Last week I was sitting in the audience of a panel discussion where the two panel guests were talking about their industries and the social and economic challenges they were facing. They were both passionate about their subject matter; however, I found myself shifting in my chair waiting for the right moment to head up to the microphone to make a comment.

I found it difficult to stay seated as I witnessed several people getting up from their chairs and leaving. I too wanted to leave. Why? The message left with the audience was draining. The focus was one of challenges. It seemed that every second statement was about the challenges they were facing.

I wanted to jump and ask for permission to coach them. However, they may not have appreciated a coaching session in front of the audience. Instead, I sat back and wondered in self reflection. What was it about their message that was irritating me? What did I want to hear from them? What was my expectation? Maybe what they were saying had some truth.

I wanted to hear them to say that even though challenges existed that they saw them as an opportunity to dig deeper and get more creative and innovative with funding and sharing their message. I wanted to hear that they saw these economic and social challenges as a temporary setback and they were setting up for their greatest comeback. I wanted to hear that there was hope. I felt that the audience also wanted to hear -there was hope.

Hope. They wanted to see how what was said related to them and how they could see through the challenges they faced. The audience longed to hear tips and strategies of how these individuals have lead others through these challenges and came out ahead.

I left the room disappointed but on a mission to find a way to pass this message on. I sought out the most appropriate person and shared my concerns. He listened very carefully and stated he felt that he played a part in how the panel’s questioning was framed. He learned from my feedback and stated he would pass it on.

It really made me think about the power of the words we chose to communicate with. We need to think about how we want others to feel after we have shared an important message. What do we want them to walk away with? Do we want a call to action? Do we want to gather ideas and support?

Words are very powerful. When I was listening to them speak and focus on their challenges, I kept thinking about how many more challenges that were coming their way. What you focus on grows! Instead of focusing on challenges, focus on solutions and breakthrough ideas. Brainstorm ideas or ask your employees and colleagues what they would do.

I was taught to view life as a learning lab. If this is the case, I choose to help individuals and organizations to focus on solutions, opportunities, and possibilities. When you focus on your strengths and what is working, the greater the momentum you will carry through to your vision.

We are in the greatest time to dream, discover, and design what we would like the world to be. A place of possibilities and a place of hope.

In what ways can you look at your challenges and turn them into opportunities for growth?

7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Coach

November 3, 2014 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Are you ready for a change?

If you knew there was one action you could take that would accelerate your success, help you gain clarity and focus, and challenge your assumptions, would you do it? Athletes are not the only group of people hiring coaches. Hiring a coach is one of the pivotal actions you can take in achieving your goals. More and more individuals are working with coaches internally within an organization or externally so that they can get promoted, grow their business, and get unstuck where they may be sabotaging their own success.

Reasons why you should hire a coach:

1. You are more likely to achieve your goals. When working with a coach, a coach will help you create an action plan and hold you accountable to what you say you will do. A coach does not do the work, you do. The belief is that everything you need is already inside of you – you need the coach to ask the right questions. You will develop greater clarity and become more focused on what you need to do to achieve the results you want. Let’s face it. Some people are intrinsically self motivated but most people will fall into patterns of procrastination or jump into the next best thing leaving plans or projects started and unfinished or worse – not started at all.

2. A coach can offer a fresh unbiased perspective. Coaches often see what you cannot see because you are in the midst of your situation. Family, friends, and colleagues may have their best interest at heart and offer advice or share their concerns as they do not want you to fail. They may not have experienced the power of working with a coach and how asking questions can get you out of your own way when you default to old habits. They themselves may be holding themselves back by not taking a risk in their own development.

3. A coach can challenge you to stretch out of your comfort zone and help you see your blind spots. Coaches hold a safe place to challenge your assumptions and potentially challenge you to take actions that make you feel uncomfortable (only because it is against the grain of how you routinely do things). These challenges are to empower you and for you to start to discover how much more potential you have inside of you – if you would only tap into it.

4. You will achieve your goals faster than if you did it all by yourself. A coach will help guide you and help you decide what goals are most important to you. One or two sessions may work for some people but for others they may need up to 6 or more because they have new goals to work on or other issues surface that are sabotaging their success. One thing I have learned in being coached myself, you need to actively participate and trust the process.

5. Coaches can act as a sounding board or share in brainstorming new ideas. I have had clients say that it was great to have someone to share what was on their mind without any judgments and to share ideas that would not be taken for their own use and promotion.

6. Coaches create a confidential safe environment. You are able to get further ahead when you feel safe to be vulnerable enough to share your audacious goals or sticky situations that you need help with. By having this environment, you are able to dig deeper and come out stronger than ever before.

7. Coaches can celebrate your successes with you. They know how hard you have been working on achieving your goals. A coach can help you stop in the moment to “really smell the roses” and pay attention to your successes. Too often, people reach a success and they are already off and running to the next action on the to-do list. Take time to stop and acknowledge your success; it builds momentum and keep you motivated.

Coaching can be a transformational experience if you are willing and open to the possibilities that lie in store. The future is bright!

If you are interested in working with a coach or learning more about what coaching can do for you, contact Debra