Video Content

Leadership Blog: Skills for being a Good Leader

How do you become a good leader? To be successful as a leader it is important to use your skillset to ensure effectiveness to exceed expectations while helping others do the same. A good lead effortlessly implements four core skills to achieve success. I know this, because I have done it successfully in my role. I went from being an Account Executive (recruiter) to a Training Manager and Senior Recruiter in just 18 months for a top executive level recruiting firm. Hard work and continually self-development are crucial when you are in a leadership position. I approach my leadership with four specific skills. As a leader I strive to LIVE with everyone. LIVE stands for listen, inspire, validate, and evaluate. If we invest in people by utilizing the right skills we will produce long lasting results.As an effective leader, it is important to LISTEN to what individual are trying to communicate to you and strive to understand it. Then you can INSPIRE every person to exceed their professional goals. During their journey it is important to VALIDATE individuals as well as continuously EVALUATE the situation and needs of others. There is a misconception that speaking is the most important part of being an effective leader. However having the ability to LISTEN is just as important and perfecting this skill sets apart successful leaders from unsuccessful ones. Listening doesn’t just mean hearing what a person is saying, but it’s the ability to interpret the information without having a reaction. If you listen to everything honestly it will help you think about how to meet other’s needs. It is best to seek to understand the information given to you instead of being verbally reactive. After listening you can determine the best way to react and decide how to explain the appropriate information. After determining individual needs effective leaders put a plan in place to INSPIRE others to exceed goals. To inspire people you want to motivate them to do their job or meet a task in the most efficient way possible. Inspiring someone comes from providing encouragement and clear direction. You cannot be an inspiring leader if you don’t communicate efficiently. In order to truly inspire others your verbal and written communication has to be direct. I read the book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott which helped me to understand how to have direct conversations in all aspects of life. I highly recommend it. Employees and individuals have to know what’s expected of them. They need to be encourage to achieve their goals and be praised appropriately when they succeed. Lay out expectations by having a fierce, direct conversation with individuals. During this process you get to implement your listening skills as well as your ability to respond in a way that will inspire them through positive feedback and encouragement. As a Training Manager I often have to redirect individuals to do things differently. My rule of thumb is to always VALIDATE what they have done well. Too often we tell people what needs to improve instead we of recognizing the things they are doing well. If we build people up as a leader we will be more effective in getting our message received and our goals met. My general rule of thumb is for every negative thing, I point out three positive things. By doing so it forces me to evaluate what an employee is actually doing. EVALUATE every situation to see if your approach is working. If you do not feel your message is being received, then evaluate how to better get your message across. If you are listening to your team, but unable to inspire them to still meet their goals then you should evaluate why that is. Perhaps it is your delivery or the actual task. We have to make peoplefeel good about what’s being asked of them. Always put a positive spin on it and make them feel appreciated. Also, helping people understand the why behind a task will have a positive impact, because it encourages them to contribute. When individuals feel appreciated and like they are contributing they are more likely to work hard. A leader’s message is received based on the way it is presented. Less is always more when writing and speaking. If we can be clear and concise in what message or call to action we give the better results we will produce. Help your team to understand why a task is being asked of them. Guide them through your through process as to what impact it will have if they are successful.If you apply the core leadership skills of LIVE (LISTEN, INSPIRE, VALIDATE, AND EVALUATE) you will be successful. Successful leadership has a great impact on individuals and benefits everyone as the company grows. To learn more about how Ajulia can help benefit your company, contact us at https://www.ajuliaexecutivesearch.com/employer

5 ELEMENTS THAT MAKE GREAT COMPANY CULTURE

“Maintaining an effective culture is so important that it, in fact, trumps even strategy.”– Howard StevensonCulture. It’s a word you hear often if you follow blogs on entrepreneurship or read articles on business and management. But what is it exactly?According to Frances Frei and Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:“Culture guides discretionary behavior and it picks up where the employee handbook leaves off. Culture tells us how to respond to an unprecedented service request. It tells us whether to risk telling our bosses about our new ideas, and whether to surface or hide problems. Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”61 Million Gen Zers are entering the workforce this year. While success and growth remain the number one driving factor for choosing a job, 71% of those surveyed also believe that a company’s culture can make or break a new opportunity.Changing your organizational environment is daunting, but our executive search experts have analyzed the 5 best elements that make great company culture.FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULES INCREASES OVERALL PRODUCTIVITYHaving a flexible company allows employees to feel more relaxed, welcomed and appreciated. Employees who have the support of their employer when “Life Happens” are 61% more likely to be flexible for the business’s needs in the long run.HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT A FLEXIBILITY POLICY?At Ajulia Executive Search, having a flexible work schedule is an earned reward for dedicated and hard working employees. Top performing recruiters have the flexibility of choosing their work hours because as a business we know they will honor that commitment. Ajulia respects the fact that a healthy work life balance is necessary for growth and success. As an organization, those same recruiters make up 70% of our annual revenue.Changing your company’s’ culture is as easy as talking to your employees. Ask them what policies or allowances they would like that would allow them more flexibility.TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION BUILDS TRUST AND CONFIDENCEAs a business executive, you are one of your companies’ leaders. This means you have insight into inner workings of your business, your industry and your company’s future. 82% of Gen Zers said they value having insight to the bigger picture of the company they are working for.Did your Sales Director attend The World Business Forum? A brief review is useful and helpful knowledge to share with the respective teams. Is there an organizational change coming because it better helps achieve your companies’ goals? Empower your employees with not only the knowledge of what is happening, but why it is happening.Studies show that the more an employee feels like a partner of a business, the better they take care of it.REWARDING SUCCESS LEADS TO INCREASED COLLABORATIONRecognizing an employee when they achieve something, overcome challenges, help improve the business, or simply help a fellow employee can be one of the most powerful factors in defining your company’s’ culture.Companies that have a recognition-rich culture tend to have lower turnover rates and higher morale.Ajulia Executive Search embraces a unique employee of the month program that recognizes an individual based on their overall overall contributions to the company. We found this approach welcoming to every department and team within our business and opened the doors for more cross collaboration with people and teams that knew their work and communication would be recognized.Studies show that when recognition comes at every level of an organization, employees feel valued, impactful, and important. Build stronger relationships between yourself and teams by implementing simple employee recognition programs.DIVERSIFYING YOUR WORKFORCE LEADS TO GREATER PRODUCTIVITY AND TEAMWORKDiversity brings different talents together, all of them working towards a common goal using different sets of skills.At Ajulia Executive Search, we pride ourselves on our cultural diversity. We hire the most highly skilled associates to ensure that we are maximizing our potential reach. How do we diversify? We offer programs, benefits, and educational opportunities that attract and retains associates. A great example of this is our flexible holiday schedule. Of the total days earned by employees, 10% are allocated for the employee to self choose their holidays.Diversifying the employees plus the work and systems in place allows an organization to grow, learn and build a better team.EMPOWER EMPLOYEES WITH LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALSAt the beginning of this article how we said ‘Success and personal growth remains the number one driving factor for choosing a job?’ A majority of Gen Zers are not focusing on higher education because they fear incurring more debt with little reward. Companies like Microsoft, Paypal, Macys, and Google offer education programs where employees can earn certifications, tuition reimbursement and real work experience while learning on the job. Programs like this provides instant gratification and motivation for employees to continue to achieve higher results.Employees that recognizes positive growth opportunities financially and skillfully are 80% more likely to be loyal to an organization than those that do not.Offering Certification courses or individual training is something Ajulia Executive Search takes very seriously. Our training department is constantly revamping and introducing new opportunities for skills growth, industry knowledge, and workflow efficiency training.Behind every successful organization is a training team working hard to stay on provide the greatest opportunities for each employee.THE CULTURE OF AN ORGANIZATION IS NOW SEEN AS THE FOUNDATION OF BUSINESS. A SOLID FOUNDATION GUARANTEES CONSISTENT AND HIGH GROWTH OF A BUSINESS. Flexible Work Schedules Increase Overall ProductivityTransparent Communication builds Trust and ConfidenceRewarding Success leads to Increased CollaborationDiversifying your Workforce Leads to Greater Productivity and TeamworkEmpower Employees with Learning Opportunities to Achieve their GoalsThese proven elements will quickly increase overall productivity, retention and internal teamwork. If you like our guide, please share on social media or with an executive, leader or coworker who is looking to improve their companies’ culture today!