Career Success Partners

Executive Coach Tip of the Day: Be Alert for Small Gifts

My wife and I were enjoying lunch today at our favorite local Chinese restaurant today. The restaurant is configured into two rooms, and I noticed someone sitting in a booth in the other room whom I recognized. He may or may not have seen or recognized me.

The individual I recognized was someone who works at our local office supply store. He's been working there several years and always greets us at the door and has been extremely helpful over the years with all kinds of purchases and questions we've asked. He happened to be eating lunch with his son, whom I also recognized, and who also works at the same store.

An idea flashed into my head, an idea that I felt like I needed to act upon, but which could have been very easily ignored or dismissed. I walked up to the restaurant manager's station and told him that I'd like to pick up the tab for this individual, and to send his bill to my table, which he did. About 15 minutes later, my office supply store friend came by our table with his hand extended. He and his son thanked us for picking up the bill and he left with a big smile on his face. He felt good and we felt great.

I truly appreciated all this individual had done for us over the years and felt like this very small favor reflected a small token of our appreciation. Again, the idea could have VERY easily been dismissed. And many times in the past it probably was. It reminded me that I needed to stay aware and alert for opportunities to give to others and to show my appreciation. It made my day and may have made a small difference in his day and his son's day in some way.

Opportunities to give and to show our appreciation ... to show our gratitude ... are all around us. Hopefully I'll continue to stay aware of more and more of those opportunities.

It changed my whole mood in a positive way, and its ripple effects are still being felt.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

Photo Credit: www.BigStockPhoto.com

Executive Coach Tip of the Day: Check Your Eyewear

Check your eyewear .... I can't remember who I heard this phrase from the first time, but I definitely remember it, and I think about it from time to time.

So, what does it mean? We all view things through a set of filters -- through our personal view of the world -- our personal eyewear that shades and colors our thinking, our opinions, and how we judge or interpret things.

The thing to remember, however, is that things change, circumstances change, the outer world is in constant motion. Our view may become stale, may become outdated, and may no longer serve us. We therefore need to step back from time to time and check our eyewear. Maybe we need to change our view, our story, and the way that we see things. Otherwise, we're not able to make the best decisions that truly serve us.

When's the last time you checked your eyewear?

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

Photo Credit: www.BigStockPhoto.com

Executive Coach Tip of the Day: Draw Some Boundary Lines

Are you clear on your boundaries? If so, how well do you hold true to them?

My boundaries include: Avoiding and moving away from toxic relationships, saying "No" to broadcast news (and the related negativity), early morning "quiet time" ... everyday, no phone calls answered during meals, among a number of others.

What are your boundaries? How well do you stay within those boundaries?

Andy Robinson
Executive Coach
CEO, CRG Leadership Institute LLC
[email protected]
(239) 285-5575

Executive Coach Tip of the Day: Let Go of Being Right

Maybe you DO know the answer .... Maybe, just maybe you DO know the best way to do it .... Maybe you've solved the problem at hand before and KNOW the best solution .... BUT maybe, just maybe you don't. Could there be a better answer, a better way to do it, a better solution? Maybe, possibly, perhaps?

Try this today .... LET GO of any need you have to "BE RIGHT." Give someone else room to figure out the answer, the best way, the solution. Help them find THEIR answer .... Ask questions, probe and LISTEN. Broaden your perspective, allow yourself to remain open to other alternatives .... Maybe a new answer, a new way, a new solution will emerge.

Give others a chance .... Allow others to openly express their perspectives, their opinions, their beliefs. Maybe they're not what you hold "true," but maybe, just maybe they do have merit.

Make a new choice today .... Choose being kind and being open over being right.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

Photo Credit: www.BigStockPhoto.com

Try This Today - Check Your Team's Key Goals Alignment

Question: How well do the key goals being focused on by your direct reports align with YOUR goals?

Try this .... Check in with each of your direct reports over the next couple of days and ask them: "What are the two or three key goals that you're most focused on this week?" .... and "What are your two or three key 30-day goals?"

Make note of what year hear ... then ... scan the list of team member key goals and look for alignment between your direct reports, alignment with YOUR key goals, and alignment with the organization's broader near term goals.

How well do your teams member goals align with your goals? 

Does anything look out of sync? 

What adjustments and changes in focus need to be communicated to improve alignment?

Loop back to applicable team members and discuss any necessary adjustments and changes.

How often do you or should you check alignment across your team?

Executive Coach Tip of the Day: Ask, Listen Fully, Confirm, Repeat

FACT: The best answer lies within each of us .... We simply need help sometimes drawing it out. When we remember this fact and act upon it as a leader, we shift the paradigm for how we help others solve problems. We also help them grow and build their self-confidence. It's the purest form of helping to develop others.

So here's the shift: Our job as a leader is to help THEM find the answer by asking great questions .... Questions that help them think out loud and "figure it out" themselves.

Great questions ARE the answer to helping others figure things out for themselves .... but, great questions only work when we sit and LISTEN FULLY to our team mate's response. Let them talk ... Let them HEAR themselves think, allow them to fully answer the question -- give them PLENTY of space to answer the question and refrain from offering OUR "two cents.". Practice this process and watch THEIR solution magically appear.

Try it the very next time a team mate approaches you with a problem: Ask ... Listen fully ... Confirm what you're hearing (if necessary), and ... Repeat.

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: [email protected], 239-285-5575

Photo Credit: www.BigStockPhoto.com

Today's 2-MINUTE CHALLENGE: Be Proactive With Updates to Your Manager

Today's Quick 2-Minute Podcast Tip:

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Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact:  [email protected]

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