Listening - Your Default Behaviour

As a leader, is your default response listening......or.....???

It might be tempting as a leader to talk - initiating conversations, responding with directions or explanations, or verbally 'taking charge' of situations.  This is quite commonplace and people have often come to accept it as the behaviour of a boss.  However, it's not the behaviour of a leader.  Leaders listen.....and then listen more.  Leaders listen for a number of reasons....in order to understand.....to get the whole picture......to get a range of perspectives......to collect valuable insights or ideas.  Leaders also paraphrase - not 'parrot' - what they hear in order to be sure they understand and to send the message that they are listening and value the thoughts of others. 

If you're not already doing so, make listening your default behaviour.  You just might be surprised how much more effective you - and your school/organization - can be when you talk less!

Getting Mentors to Support Your Learning from a Variety of Perspectives

As a leader, are you accessing mentors who can provide you with a variety of perspectives?

Many of the jobs that Baby Boomers will vacate over the next two decades will go to up-coming new leaders.  The right mentors can help you improve the quality of your learning along the way. Consider contacting the following types of people to serve as your mentors:

• A senior executive with experience in an area where your school/organization is focusing. These people can help you develop a big-picture mind-set.
• A high-performing peer. Gain a broader perspective within your field by asking a highly-effective peer to be a mentor for you.
• A person whom you serve. . Get into your parents' / clients' shoes and see how the school/organization looks from the standpoint of those being served by it.

Adapted from Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need (HBR OnPoint Collection).

Leading Effective Meetings

As a leader, how do you ensure purpose in your meetings?

As leaders, we generally have the positional authority to call meetings when we wish.  This has obvious advantages but it also has significant potential risks for you as a leader.  If your meetings are purposeful and engaging, you run the risk of dooming all meetings to events your staff members learn to dread.

Here are four simple ideas to ensure effective meetings:

• Have a clear purpose.  Be sure that each meeting has a clear purpose and that everyone attending knows the purpose in advance.  People who attend can come prepared.  If your purpose is clear, your outcomes will be more readily accomplished.
• Ensure everyone who needs to be there is present.  Be sure that everyone who needs to know - or wants to know - is included.  If the meeting is worth calling, it's worth having all valuable perspectives present in the room.  It's annoying and ineffective when you find you need someone there and they weren't even invited.
• Operate by pre-determined norms.  Establish clear, easy-to-follow norms and stick by them.  People appreciate how norms focus meetings and get the work done in a timely manner.
• Use facilitation strategies. A well-facilitated meeting engages the participants and it accomplishes the outcomes desired.  Without facilitation, the meeting can go on and on while its trying to find a focus.  What usually ends up happening is that one person takes over and it becomes their meeting and you lose the value of those who are present.