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Leadership Reflection: Do All Mentors Have to be Warm and Fuzzy?

On this Martin Luther King Day it is good to reflect on those who had an impact on you.

Is there a mentor that has affected your development as a leader? If you are a true leader you likely have had at least one. It is also likely that your mentor provided guidance, advice, and an example for you through a close comfortable relationship.

Now reflect on the individual that has had the most profound impact on your growth as a leader.

  • Was that a close comfortable relationship?
  • Were their words always encouraging?
  • Did the individual present challenges, conflict, and push you to struggle?

If your definition of a mentor is one who fosters your growth as a leader, look around and you may find some atypical mentors pushing you to new heights. Whether the relationship is close and comfortable or formal and edgy, accept the lessons they provide and thank them.

 

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Leadership Coaching Workshop: Come Experience the Benefits of Having a Coach

Leadership Coaching Workshop: The Gift of You as A More Capable Leader for 2017

Wednesday, 11 January 2017, Dupont Circle, 10th Floor Conference Room 10I

1875 Connecticut Ave, Washington DC

If you could do ONE thing to make yourself stand out as a professional would you do it?

Come grab your morning coffee and join Professional Coach Gary Slyman for a free interactive workshop to begin accelerating your growth as a leader. The two goals of the workshop are:

  • To help you build the vision of the leader you want to be
  • To help you assess your current leadership capabilities

This workshop will bring the benefits of thoughtful introspection, increased self-awareness, and the foundation for your leadership development journey, for 2017.

Program Schedule   9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Check in and grab a cup of Joe

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Presentation

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM Q&A and Wrap up

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Leadership Reflection: How solid are your moral principles?

If you were asked “Do you have specific moral principles that guide you as a leader?” The inevitable answer would be: “Of course I do.” I bet you would probably be able to rattle off a list. But what does that mean? Recollect the most challenging moral dilemma you were faced with in your professional career. Now reflect on the following:

  • How were my moral principles applied in the event?
  • Was I flexible with my principles?
  • What did I learn about my principles and myself?
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Give Yourself and Those Around You the Gift of a Better You!

If you could do just ONE thing to improve yourself at work and at home would you do it?

Well there is one thing you can do: invest in yourself by hiring a professional coach. You will benefit from a partner wholly focused on empowering you to be the person you want to be. Your coach will assist you in assessing and understanding your full capabilities and work with you to set and attain your goals.
To learn more go to www.GreatTransitionsStrategies.com and set up an appointment for a complementary coaching session to experience the power coaching can have on your life.
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Leadership Reflection: Do I Have a Realistic Vision?

As a leader you must have a vision for your future. However, for that vision to guide you it must be something you can achieve and it must be yours. Individuals with good intentions constantly attempt to shape us. Unintentionally we adopt the dreams that others have for us. Take the time to reflect and answer to the following questions:

  • How realistic is my current vision?
  • What percentage of my current vision is truly mine?

Setting the end state of where you want to be is the key to your growth as a leader.

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BizWorkshop: From Corporate Employee to Startup Launch Presented by Great Transitions Strategies and KISSPatent

On December 6th Gary Slyman of Great Transitions Strategies will be co-hosting an event with Dvorah Graeser of KissPatent. The event is focused on how to make the transition from corporate employee to Startup Launch. It will held in Washington DC at WeWork Dupont Circle. For those who do not live in the area or who are unable to attend they will also host a live webinar, on Dec 8th. 
 
Get the details and sign up here:
WeWork Event: https://www.meetup.com/TechBreakfast/events/235491697/
Webinar: https://www.meetup.com/TechBreakfast/events/235491697/
Learn more about KissPatent and Great Transitions Strategies here:
https://kisspatent.com/
www.GreatTransitionsStrategies.com
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What Do Three World-Class Entrepenuers & Founders (Intuit, Canvas Ventures, and Shift) Agree On?

As an entrepreneur with the dream to a be a founder of a Startup would you consider the advice of three successful founders or CEO’s valuable? Listen to what these successful business professionals have to say about the benefits of having a  coach as part of their team:

Scott Cook – Intuit Co-Founder

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Season 11 | Episode 7, Nov 4, 2015

Accounting for Intuit’s Success

Video Clip:

 

Rebecca Lynn, partner and founder at Canvas Ventures

http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts/3559/Creating-Your-Own-Canvas

Entire Episode: Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Season 11 | Episode 17

Audio Excerpt:

 

Minnie Ingersoll, CEO Shift

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Season 11 | Episode 17

A Drive to Disrupt

Entire Episode: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts/4025/A-Drive-to-Disrupt

Audio Excerpt

 

The author, Gary Slyman is the founder and president of Great Transitions Strategies and has over 35 years of leadership experience ranging from dynamic high-risk environments to the classroom. He empowers high performing individuals and organizations to transition to the next level of performance through leadership development. Learn more at www.GreatTransitionsStrategies.com or contact via gary@GreatTransitionsStrategies.com for a complimentary consultation or coaching session.

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How to Transition to Entrepreneur and Create Your Own Startup

Ever think to yourself:

“I have this great idea for a Startup, the technical capability, and desire. I just don’t know how to evaluate the path forward to pursue my dream?”

Many of us have a stereotyped image of the startup entrepreneur as some grad school student living a Spartan existence to make their enterprise a success. That image is incorrect.  Most of today’s would-be entrepreneurs are well-established professionals with significant responsibilities. There is the mortgage, the student loans, savings, tuition, professional responsibilities, and family-life. Those commitments will not allow them to live on a Raman Noodle diet without a paycheck while building their new enterprise.

So how to do it?

Do it by building a team and do NOT – “go it alone”.

To make your transition a reality, build a team that is “all-in” with you in achieving your success! 

Who should be on your team?

Your roster should have players only concerned with your success and who will empower you to rigorously evaluate the challenges each step of the way.

One of those players must be a professional coach. Your coach will engage in a relationship solely focused on you pursuing your vision. Your coach will empower you to reflect, take on challenges, and hold yourself accountable throughout the journey. You will learn about yourself as you answers questions such as:

1.    What is my vision?

2.    What are my current capabilities?

3.    What are the gaps between my current state and my ultimate goal?

4.    How do I move from my current place to achieve my vision?

Ask successful professionals you know who they rely on to keep them progressing. Singers, executives, business professionals, and athletes all have coaches as a member of their team. Why? Because the only purpose of a coach is to focus on accelerating and maximizing a client’s performance.

Invest in yourself by hiring a coach as a member of your team and explore the possibilities of how to become the founder of your own startup.

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Sex, Alcohol, and “After Midnight.” – Three Elements That Have the Potential to Derail Leaders

Ryan Lotche is the latest high-profile victim of poor decision making or more simply “himself”. One night of bad decisions influenced by one, or a combination of the three elements – sex, alcohol, and/or “after midnight.” derailed his success story. Rather than celebrating his Olympic successes that he worked daily over the course of years to achieve, he is dealing with the fallout of one night lying on camera, embarrassing the United States, and losing endorsements.

Of course there are other missteps such as greed and power that bring down leaders. However, those elements have a more premeditated and long-term process of destruction. What I am referring to here are individuals who in one night precipitate their world crashing down around them. The disaster is preventable and caused solely from decisions that were made after midnight, and influenced by sex and/or alcohol.

I contend that an individual not only has the potential to have their judgment clouded by sex, alcohol, and after midnight, but as you combine the elements the risks increase exponentially. My evidence is purely anecdotal however; you may have anecdotes that also support my point. Think of several people you know that had a good thing going such as a career, family, relationship, or business venture derailed by a one-time event. What were the causal factors? Were sex, alcohol, and a decision “after midnight” part of the equation?

To be clear here are my definitions to fit the context:

  • Sex: merely the act of pursuing the opposite sex qualifies as sex in this context
  • Alcohol: being under the influence and over the legal limit to drive
  • After midnight: making decisions after 2400 hours local time

Lets look at an example: It is Friday afternoon and the group you lead decides to have an impromptu celebration. Your announcement that the company was awarded the contract that consumed the team for two weeks was greeted with cheers. The celebration starts at happy hour, the drinks flow and everyone is having a good time. Those that try to leave get pressured to stay for dinner. There is plenty of wine and toasting at dinner and as dinner ends the group starts coming up with ideas for what is next that night. It’s getting late, many have had too much to drink, and someone says: “Let’s go across the street to that bar with the band and dance floor.”

Have a picture in your mind? What happens next is up to your imagination or experience. Some possibilities:

  • Nothing negative occurs everything works out fine.
  • A drunken coworker gets in their car and drives home.
  • Someone says something to a coworker that is inappropriate.
  • Someone misses an event with a significant other?
  • Photos of the group and individuals are posted on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Someone streams portions of the event on Periscope.

So what’s the big deal you say, your team is just celebrating a professional success. You are right and a well deserved one. But as a leader what are your roles and responsibilities to yourself, your team, and the organization?

Leaders manage many risks to ensure success, to navigate challenges, and to meet high levels of performance. As professionals they constantly prepare for contingencies, they know their responsibilities, and are ready to fulfill their role 24/7. If that is true, how is it then that leaders from the lowest levels to CEO’s have fallen prey to poor judgment outside the confines of daily routines?

Do decision-making, risk management, and training for scenarios outside of the confines of daily routines have the correct priority in your leadership training and education? Leaders’ decisions 24/7 have an affect at a personal, a professional, and an organizational level. Just ask the Ryan Lochte and the US Olympic Committee.

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Leadership Thoughts: Four Ways Leaders Build Trust

If leadership is a bond of trust between the leader and the led, how do you build that trust?

The Armed Forces Officer (National Defense University Press and Potomac Books Inc. 2007) provides guidance to those who lead in the most challenging environments. Those recommendations are easily adapted to every leadership environment.

Leaders set and enforce the standards: Establishing the expectation of performance is easy. What you do when the expectation is not met can be more difficult. Most importantly, your action or lack of action determines the true level of performance the organization will attain. How do you enforce the standards you set as the leader?

Leaders set the example: This one sounds like a no-brainer; however think how often you point out how your superiors set a poor example. Are your subordinates doing the same? How well do you set the example? If you expect honest and transparent behavior, do your subordinates see you withholding information in making a presentation to the boss? Do you skirt the rules because “rank has its privileges”? Take a few minutes to honestly assess yourself. If your subordinates acted exactly as you do, what would be the outcome?

Leaders model moral courage: Have you experienced a leader unwilling to take a moral stand and do what was right so they did not rock the boat? How did that change your view of them? Moral courage means doing what is right, even when the consequences may not serve you well. Identify an individual in your organization who regularly demonstrates moral courage? What do you think of them? How do your subordinates grade you on moral courage?

Leaders build and sustain morale: You are leading a high performance organization, working hard, producing results, and delivering on time. But is your team truly a team or just a collection of individuals. Does the team work together and demonstrate that the team is more important then the individual? Do team members step outside their assigned roles to assist others? How do they talk to others about the organization? Quantifying morale can be challenging, however when asked, subordinates will readily make it known how they feel about the team.

Reflecting on these four actions will provide an assessment of your leadership. If you are looking for some actionable feedback, you may consider soliciting input from your subordinates by asking: “How well do I …? Please provide specific positive and negative examples.

Everyone already knows the answers – except you.

 

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