Leadership Archives - Page 27 of 38

Ask questions.

"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions," Claude Levi-Strauss. In developing and coaching people, we must cultivate the habit of curiosity. At times this can be challenging, we are busy and want to get to the bottom line. Nurturing curiosity requires creativity and intentionality--this can take time. Questions are critical to curiosity. Asking questions keeps you informed, in touch, and aware. In reality, how many of us invest time in developing good questions prior to a one-on-one meeting? Here is an idea to consider: set aside ten minutes prior to your one-on-one's and jot down critical questions. Make sure they are open-ended to inspire dialogue. During your meeting STAY CURIOUS, ask more questions as [...]

By Bob Fashano|2021-06-15T18:47:19+00:00June 15th, 2021|Connecting, Development, Leadership, Listening|0 Comments

The leader’s best friend.

ARE YOU CONVICTED? As leaders we need to form the habit of conviction. This is essential for us to be a change agent. If ignored it can destroy quickly. I have learned every person of influence will face a moment or moments when they will be tempted to compromise their integrity. How many stories have we read or heard about people in government, business, clergy where their lives (and those they love) have been destroyed as a result of compromise. A mentor of mine had a mantra that became sticky to me, "Their is no right way to do a wrong thing." Please let that sink in. The habit of conviction always means doing what is right -- not what [...]

By Bob Fashano|2021-06-09T12:18:21+00:00June 9th, 2021|Development, Empowering, Leadership|0 Comments

The essentials of mentorship.

Building upon last week’s message of mentorship, I wanted to dive a little deeper. Fred Manske Jr. author of the Secrets of Effective Leadership nailed it when he said, “The ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the point they surpass him or her in knowledge or ability.” There are several characteristics of an effective mentor. Wisdom: there is no substitution for experience. Your past successes and failures are your bank account for an effective mentor. Empathy: chances are you were mentored and can relate to the place the mentee is in. Patience: growing and developing people takes time. If you are not willing to invest the time needed, you simply cannot be effective at mentoring. [...]

By Bob Fashano|2021-06-01T17:44:44+00:00June 2nd, 2021|Coaching, Connecting, Development, Leadership|0 Comments

Three things your people want to know.

We all know one critical aspect of building a productive team is the selection of the right talent. Once you believe you have the right person for the opportunity, they intuitively have three questions they want answers to. Keep in mind they may not ask these questions of you directly, but deep down the answers may be deal breakers. The last thing you want is to have the person at risk of walking, especially when you have invested the time to identify the right person for the job. The questions are: 1. Do you care about me? The challenge here for most leaders is how to sincerely demonstrate care. Ask yourself, "Do I really know this person? Do I know [...]

By Bob Fashano|2021-05-12T11:49:47+00:00May 12th, 2021|Leadership|0 Comments

Serve and lead — really?

As you may be aware, there are volumes written on the topic of being a servant leader. Perhaps one of the first works came from Robert Greenleaf's book "Servant Leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness." I must confess for quite a while when I thought about servanthood, I had a vision of an activity performed by a relatively low-skilled person. My "old school mindset" assumed that if we serve, people will have a lesser view of us. Over the years I have come to learn that couldn't be further from the truth. To prove the point, think about a mother. They naturally serve their family members. Mother's are typically the one person in our life [...]

By Bob Fashano|2021-05-05T11:51:30+00:00May 5th, 2021|Connecting, Leadership|0 Comments