team Archives - Debra Kasowski

3 Ways to Visionary Leaders Can Engage Their Teams in Their Vision

February 9, 2018 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Visionary leaders are creatives by nature. You’ll notice that if you are a visionary leader that your mind goes off with ideas like fireworks at the county fair. You can see the vision in your mind, you can feel the excitement of the vision coming together in your body, and you believe it is possible to make your vision a reality. However, not all visionary leaders can get their teams to buy-in to your vision. Have you ever had a leader that had trouble explaining their vision? They can tell you what the final outcome can be but they can’t always explain how to get the destination. Visionary leaders need to engage their teams to fulfill the vision.

Write Out Your Compelling Vision. Get it out of your head and onto paper. You have tons of ideas battling for your attention and focus at any one time. Ideas can be grand but also fleeting so it is important to capture those ideas onto paper as soon as possible. Inking the vision onto paper helps you think about the vision and not miss a detail. Writing out your vision and goals helps you clarify your ideas.

Communicate Your Vision to Your Team. Be descriptive as possible. Remember you can see the vision clearly in your mind. People are not mind readers. Your team all learn in different ways. Some people need to see the vision. Using diagram, images, or models can help describe the vision. Others are auditory so explaining your vision in vivid detail with help them create the picture in their mind. Sensory learners learn by touch and kinesthetic learn by action to reinforce the learning. Most people have a combination of all four. Clearly communicating your vision reveals a roadmap as to where you are heading. It can act as a filter to ensure your team is “paddling” in the same direction versus chasing ideas that are not in aligned with your vision.

“Vision is the art of what is invisible to others.” Jonathan Swift

Engage Your Team by Asking Open-Ended Questions. Discover who the planners and implementers are on your team. These individuals are the ones who can see the vision and know how to make the vision a reality. What do they think about the vision? What would it take to make this vision a reality? What opportunities exist that can be leveraged? Your team members want to be engaged in meaningful and engaging work. What does making this vision a reality do for others? Allow them to be part of your vision and they will be your champions. Ensure that you check in at milestones to celebrate with them and see your vision unfold.

We need visionaries to inspire creative ideas and solutions. Visionaries can struggle from time to time in making the vision become a reality because the can see it in their minds but they have trouble articulating it to others. By writing out the vision, communicating the vision, and engaging your team in the vision, you will gain clarity, new ideas, and buy-in from your team. If any member of your team is paddling in a different direction, you will face resistance and may even head in a different direction should any other team members join them.

Share your compelling vision regularly. Ask questions regularly. Engage the right team members. Ensure they are paddling in the same direction. Lead them to your vision.

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free e-book download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Episode 79 – Drive Business Results

March 16, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“It is in doing things and not reading about them that results come about.”
―Stephen Richards

When it comes to driving your businesses results, steer clear of promises of get-rich-quick schemes or offers to make you an overnight success. Warning, when you hear something that is too good to be true, it often is. You know those people you think about being an overnight success – they are not. You did not witness the sacrifices, the work that was put in, and the sweat and tears that went into getting to where they are today. They were the ones honing their craft while others were out partying it up. They finally reached a tipping point where all their efforts, hard work, and dedication stood out in the crowded marketplace. If you want to drive your business results, you need to look beyond the bottom line. Your bottom-line is important but should not be your sole focus.

Communicating Your Vision and Values The leader of the organization needs to be able to communicate the vision and values for the business in order to gain by in from the people. There is great debate whether businesses and organization should be well managed or well led. There may be a decent argument for a little bit of both. When people are focused on the process, sometimes they lose sight of the impact on the people and how it ripples to the rest of their lives. As a leader, I have a different perspective. I believe that if you gain the trust and buy-in, you gain engagement. Engagement of your people with drive your business results as your people can share ideas and an invested interest in reaching the end goal = making the vision a reality.

Sharing the Benefits Remember when sharing your vision that you need to share the benefits too – the benefits to your people as individuals, as a group, and the entire organization and the people served. People are always looking for “What’s in it for me?” and wondering “Is what I am doing meaningful and does it make a difference?” Let them know that they matter and how what their involvement does.

Appreciating and Recognizing Your People For some people the monetary incentive is attractive but what intrinsically drives people more is that you are catching them doing something good! Let the people who work for you know what a great job they do and focus on specifics so they can do more of it. You can recognize them for their attendance, follow through, how they handled a situation or project, or the presentation they were nervous about. When someone appreciates you and believes in you, you will go out of your way to ensure that you are giving your very best.

Streamline Processes or Discover New Ways to Become More Efficient “A Better Way” Of Doing Things You can drive your business results and performance by looking for ways to become more efficient. Reflect and keep track of wastes of time, money, and resources. You may be surprised with what you uncover. By paying attention to the smallest detail you can save time, money, and resources if you look for ways to be better and stronger.

Boost Your Revenue with New Products and Services in the Marketplace Many people are interested in the newest and latest and greatest products and services on the market. When was the last time you brought something new to the marketplace? No one said you needed to create something new entirely. Is there something that needs to be upgrading or updated that you could relaunch? Sales and marketing are an important strategy to getting your voice heard in the marketplace.

Manage Your Expenses and Invest Where You Need to You need to measure and evaluate where your money is going to make good decisions. You can’t just look at an area of business and think I need to cut costs here or cut costs there without evaluating the impact. You want to be responsive in business not reactive. Sometimes you need to invest your money to increase productivity which in turn can lead to increased profit.

Building and Supporting Community There is nothing better than building strength in numbers. By building and supporting your community through charity functions, cross promotion, and collaboration, you can drive business results to extraordinary results. People want to work with people who care about what they care about. When you participate in a fundraiser, charity function, or volunteer, you help your business or organization come alive into a breathing living entity of vision and values in action! Who do you like to do business with and why?

If you want to drive your business results, you want to be purposeful and strategic in getting the outcomes you want. Create an emotional connection to what you want to achieve and you will have many people wanting to help you make that goal a reality. People want to be a part of your success! Let them be a part of the action that makes it happen.

“The results of knowledge without application results in nothing at all. Do what you know better to do.”
― DeWayne Owens

What action will you take today?

We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

Time: 8:46 min

Keywords: Communicate your vision effectively, vision, leadership, business, team, share your vision, what is in it for me, drive business results, drive your business results, boost your revenue, manage your expenses, appreciate your people, share the benefits, communicate your vision and values

Episode 75 – Communicating Your Vision Effectively

March 2, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Good leaders must communicate vision clearly, creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.” John C. Maxwell

Leaders can have great ideas but unless they can create a compelling vision for their people – ideas remain ideas. Leadership is about being about to communicate what that vision is on a consistent basis. You are pointing the way and leading them toward the vision. You must first believe in the vision yourself in order to share it.

Gain Clarity of Your Vision. You cannot share a vision with others unless you clearly understand it yourself. It does not have to be perfect to gain buy-in, people need to see the vision of what you are talking about. If they cannot understand the picture of what you are creating, you will not gain buy-in. What is the vision?

Make Your Vision Compelling by Sharing Stories. Describe your vision in as much detail as possible. The use of stories will create a connection between you and the people you are communicating the vision to. People will learn ‘why’ your vision is so meaningful to you. They will start to visualize how they fit into the story. Otherwise, they feel like they are on the outside looking in. It is like looking through a candy store window and not being able to touch or taste any of it. Keep your message simple but powerful. What stories or experiences can you share that help share that create a compelling reason for making the vision a reality?

Communicate with Enthusiasm. Be positive about your message. If you are not excited about your vision, you cannot expect others to be. Be passionate and enthusiastic about what you are doing. You want people to be engaged because they say “I want to” rather than them say “I have to” attitude. Otherwise, they will not put in their best efforts as they have no vested interest. People will be drawn to the positive energy you share and will want to learn more. Write out your vision so you can you are describing the vision exactly how you see it and the possibilities. What excites you about the vision?

Communicate a Variety of Ways and Channels. People like to receive information in different ways. They also each interpret messages in different ways. It is best practice to share your vision through a variety of channels. If you communicate the vision randomly, it will get lost in the whirlwind of other daily activities or your message may get diluted.

One of the most popular and possibly overused ways is through email. Not that it is not effective, it may not have the impact when buried in the others 400 emails you have. You may choose share your vision through one-on-one meetings, town hall meetings, video presentations, or even webinars. It can take from 7-9 contacts with information before they start adopting or moving into action. Overcommunicate your message to ensure it sticks. What are the best ways for you to communicate the vision and reach your people?

Help People See Themselves as Part of the Future and Part of Making an Impact on the Greater Good. Team members and followers have their own vision – the starts with “What is in it for me?” Talk in terms of how “we” are going to make the vision a reality. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves by knowing they play a key role in making it happen. Collaborate with and engage your people in the process and help them understand their role and responsibility in making the vision become a part of reality. Two-way dialogue is very important. They want to know how what they do will impact the vision and if their work is meaningful or matters. What part does your team member or team play in making the vision come true?

Keep the communicate lines open. Allow people to ask questions and offer their suggestions. You never know what other experiences people have until the right opportunity comes up to share it. What can you learn from the questions and feedback people share to strengthen your vision?

You have a vision. You must now lead the way. Other are watching and waiting to find out how they will make an impact and when it is their turn. Invite them into the conversation and call them to action – to be a part of the vision.

Time: 10:02 minutes

Collaboration versus Competition – Which One is Better?

January 14, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

We’ve all heard about having the competitive edge. When it comes to business and the work being done in organizations, the competitive edge occurs when each individual is honing their own skills therefore enhancing the effectiveness of teamwork.

Collaboration is often referred to as the new competition. Shifting from a “Me to We” mentality. The problems faced tend to be more complex and one person alone can’t always come up with a solution. It is becoming more important to tap into the diversity of your people. They come from diverse backgrounds, have a wide variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and possess different strengths and experiences. Tapping into this rich resource can demonstrate how much more you can accomplish as a group versus what you can accomplish alone. When faced with challenges, you can use this as an opportunity to see things differently. Innovation emerges from the creativity of many people.

Collaboration is key as it allows everyone to have a voice and feel that their ideas are valued. When the focus is on one’s personal gain versus the collective outcome there can be division in the vision. Let’s say that two agents in the same company are focused on getting this sale of one client. The client may develop mistrust or even encounter are a negative experience because the focus between the two agents is on competition and they may seek to sabotage the efforts of each other. Competition should begin and end with you. It is the ability to push yourself to give your best.

Collaboration between team members is developed through connection and engagement. It is important to inform a network of support as you work together. Too many people scramble to develop a network in tough situations. Whereas in if you would have developed them along the way when you need it there readily available. When you work well together with other team members you naturally increase your team’s performance. The team starts to see themselves as part of the vision. When the team sees themselves as part of the vision, this is where true teamwork emerges. The people start to realize that the vision does not exist only at the top of the organization but within them.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller

Competition is natural and it may be natural that you may feel intimidated when faced with competition. This follows its Competition can lead to insecurity and uncertainty. When you focus on the competition, you can drain your energy. You may even start questioning yourself and doubting your abilities. What is worse is that you may start copying or patterning yourself to be much more like the competition then separating you from the competition and being unique. You end up being another flavour of the day. You may even hoard your talents instead of using them to benefit the vision of the team.

When people are competing, they will back away from responsibilities if they don’t believe it is their job. Whereas, in teamwork, people often jump in and do things without being asked.

The only good thing that I can see about competition is that can discourage complacency and push an individual to work harder. There can be friendly competitions within the team but they can be used to challenge members of the team so that they can learn from each other in collaboration. Instead of making incentives monetary-based, consider having team members focused on performance and productivity in the way of the number of follow-up phone calls completed, the number of gratitude cards sent out, the number of lead conversions, and the number of e-mails addressed or cleaned out of the inbox. Find ways to drive results and improved performance by working collaboratively.

The true competition should be you becoming a better version of yourself. At the end of the day, wouldn’t it be more effective to utilize and leverage the strengths of the people within your business or organization to make a difference, make a change, or increase your profit margin?

EPISODE 17: Harness the Power of Momentum

August 11, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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Episode 17 – Harness the Power of Momentum

There are no limits to what you can achieve if you stay focused on what you are trying to achieve. You need to believe the impossible is possible for you. Your results may be better than you expect. Success has no guarantees; each action you take starts creating a momentum. If you stop taking action, you stop the momentum.

“Always work hard. Intensity clarifies. It creates not only momentum, but also the pressure you need to feel either friction, or fulfillment.”

— Marcus Buckingham

During my coaching program, we learned about Creative Tension – It moves us to take action. It helps us get out of our comfort zone and stretch us. Challenge us.

Why do we need it? What does it do?

Momentum helps us:

Push through and overcome obstacles. You may have heard about runners or even swimmer pushing through a certain distance to push forward what they may not have thought possible exclaiming, “What else can I do? What else can I do?” What else is possible for you?
Increase your motivation and confidence in your abilities. It helps you to try new things!

You are responsible for creating it through consistent actions. A rapid succession of successes and lessons drives momentum. Energy increases; it will be natural for others to want to follow you. You will become magnetic. You will start to inspire others around you.

Momentum is ignited when you have a clear vision – you know what you want to achieve, you are able to articulate and share your vision, and you can enroll others in your vision.

Do you want to get more clarity? Read my book GPS Your Best Life

Believe in your ability to make things happen. Your confidence, energy, and enthusiasm with excite others around you.

You are probably thinking to yourself – but how do I create a momentum – especially when times are tough or you are feeling challenged more than you think you can handle.

I want to share with you some of the ways that have worked for me and some of the clients I have worked with.

Challenge yourself – Be committed to continuous learning, stay curious and have a learner mindset. Try new things regularly.
Make a rule to quit complaining, blaming, and stop making excuses. You either get results or excuses.
Reduce your distractions. Declutter your space or your email. Clear whatever is in your way.
Be grateful for what you have; the more you will have to be grateful for.
Celebrate your successes – little things lead to big things! It will drive you to take more action. Breath in and acknowledge the successes before moving on to the next thing.
Deliver value and look for ways to exceed expectations. You will generate excitement in others and they will be grateful and share their experience with you – with others.
Do you least favorite activity first – EAT THAT FROG – Brain Tracy

Everything will move so much quicker with the momentum.

Set Milestones – You create anticipation. You may even meet goals quicker.
Measure your outcomes – what gets measured gets managed.
Fake it until you make it – take the actions you need to get to where you want to go. Who is a leader you admire? How can emulate some of the actions that they have taken to achieve success – do your homework. If you want to be a great leader, start being one now.
Make a plan – Work the plan. Otherwise, you will be chasing butterflies. Do you due diligence and your resources.
Don’t forget to dream – Sometimes when people are too realistic to the bone, it drags people down. Dreams can propel you further rather than looking at your current circumstances.
Follow up with people you have met at events or make inquiries – you will be surprised when you connect with others. They energy rises and people take an interest in what you are doing.

What happens when you stop running on a treadmill or riding a bike?

You stop moving – you fall off.

Worry and doubt can paralyze you from taking forward action. They drain your energy. Challenge yourself – test your theories. Ask questions. Gain knowledge – but don’t stop unless you know you are in danger.

No one is going to jail or getting hurt or killed in the process chances are whatever happens you can course correct.

We all start somewhere. There have been many successful people who did not start with any resources – no network of people, no money, no knowledge, did not know English or a language of the place they settled in. They built it and so can you.

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” — Og Mandino

Success is not about how many resources you have; it is about being resourceful and leveraging your resources in the most effective way. Focus on taking action and over time a compound effect with occur. If you are focused only on short-term activities to get immediate results, you will lose momentum quickly especially if you do not set a new target that stretched you.

Your efforts make a difference in how you feel about your progress and what you are going to achieve.

Let your efforts multiply!

Success comes from taking the initiative and following up…persisting…eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?

— Tony Robbins

You need to continually set new challenges to learn and grow. Acknowledge how far you have come. Reflect on what you can do better and work to improve.

Time: 16:31 min