Colleen Speaks Blog

Words of Wisdom on Effective Leadership

This week in beautiful Wyoming, I had the privilege of speaking on becoming a more powerful leader. And, nothing is more important (besides honesty!) than being a good role model. Here is some leadership advice I shared which was particularly popular with the audience:

The better you are as a person, the better you will be as a leader. Have your life squared away. And, what areas aren’t squared away, don’t bring them to work. Leave your work at work, and your home life at home. – Colleen Kettenhofen, Speaker and Author

“Bringing your personal life to work” is a situation I hear about frequently as I speak around the country on effective leadership and managing people. Beyond reason, people don’t want to hear every detail of a person’s life, whether it’s a manager or a co-worker. Too much information combined with mood swings can upset the morale of the workplace and adversely affect productivity. And when all is said and done, people have a right to come to work and enjoy it.

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A Definition of Leadership

"Leadership is not magnetic personality - that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not making friends and influencing people - that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." --Peter Drucker

Start Your Year Right! Boosting Morale and Productivity in Tough Times:

The Importance of Positive Self-Talk

The following saying is a great reminder for keeping the right attitude, having positive self-talk, and overall remaining positive, especially in tough times. Here it is:

An old Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside himself. He said it is between two Wolves.

One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which Wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The One I feed.”

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Change Your Thinking, Change Your Circumstances

How to Stay Up in a Down Economy

In these tough times, it’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t use your energy to be down. Use your energy to be determined. Here are nine quick tips to give you a boost.

1. Refresh and reprogram your mind. Your subconscious mind is most amenable to suggestion your first hour upon awakening, and that last hour before bedtime. Be careful what you watch on tv and what books you read. I’ve actually had some friends say they’re no longer watching the news first thing in the morning because it’s too depressing. Think about reading some inspirational or motivational literature, or going for a walk.
2. Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due. Learn to overcome procrastination. Do the thing you like least first thing in the morning. If you can do something in 10 minutes, just do it. The longer you procrastinate, the harder it is to get started.
3. Focus on what you can control. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Ever notice that when you’re driving, if you keep looking in a certain direction, that’s the direction your car goes? Same thing with your mind. Focus on where you WANT to go.
4. Don’t let the past dictate your future. See your failures as a stepping stone to your personal progress. Don’t take it personally. You did the best you could with what you knew at the time. Let go the mistake but don’t lose the lesson.
5. Energy goes where attention flows. Think about….what you’re thinking about! This is important because the average person has 50,000 thoughts a day. 77% of those thoughts about ourselves are negative. Thoughts influence how we feel. How we feel influences our actions.
6. What you focus on the longest becomes the strongest. What you think about and focus on becomes your reality. This isn’t anything new. But sometimes we need to be reminded of it again.
7. The people you surround yourself with, and the books you read, determine 93% of your success.
8. Do something nice for someone else each day. It gets your mind off your circumstances and on to helping others.
9. Take an occasional day off. Do something you love. For example, yesterday I was in Sedona, Arizona enjoying the beautiful snow on the towering red rocks. We continued driving up highway 89 to Flagstaff which was blanketed in white and resembled a winter wonderland. It gave me renewed energy.
   

It’s never too late to change your thinking and change your circumstances. Change your thinking and you can change your life. Change is the only constant in a challenging economy. Make changes now. Don’t wait another day. The future is now.

Colleen's Quick Sales Tip for Today

Look at each customer as a person. Explain how your
product or service adds value to them based on what they
want. Have the attitude that you are helping people get
what they want. If you truly believe what you are selling
will help them (and you should!) explain how it will make
them feel. In other words, how are you making their
life easier? How are you adding value? As a salesperson,
you are first and foremost a problem solver.

The “Senility” Prayer

This is to add some fun and humor to your day. As opposed to the well-known Serenity Prayer, this is called the “Senility” Prayer. Here it is:

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

the good fortune to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight to tell the difference.

From Chaos to Calm: 6 Quick Tips

“Professional life is like a fire hydrant. You spend all of your time putting out fires and standing your ground against the big dogs.” Dick Enberg

Chaos. The stock market…managing multiple projects that were due “yesterday,” and dealing with difficult people. All these things can stress us out leaving us feeling in the midst of chaos, change, and things beyond our control. The good news? There are some things within our control. And a key to feeling some semblance of order is in learning to manage the part we CAN control. You may not be able to affect the economy, but you can control your thought life, and your environment. Here are six steps to help you go from chaos to calm:

1. Get rid of clutter. Even if you spend 20 minutes filing papers, or cleaning out that junk drawer, you’ll be amazed how it can create more serenity in your mind. Just spending 20 minutes a day organizing, putting papers in the shredder, and filing can create a more serene environment and give you a more peaceful outlook.

2. Clear off your desk. Before you work on an important project, whether it’s paying bills, or writing a business letter, clear everything else off your desk. This will help clear your mind, keep you focused, and help you work single-mindedly on one task until it’s complete.

3. Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due. Often we spend more time worrying than just getting something done. Studies show hardest part of procrastination is getting started. Write down an exact time frame for when you’re going to work on that task. For example, I often have something like, “Write two business letters 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon,” on a dry erase white board in my office. By seeing it all the time, I’m motivated to get it accomplished so I can erase it.

4. Hold yourself accountable. Find someone to be your accountability partner. Tell that person to hold your feet to the fire to make sure you accomplish that project by your deadline. Just don’t make it your boss!

5. Learn to deal with difficult people. You can quit your job because of a difficult patient, customer, co-worker, or difficult boss. But what will you find on your next job? More difficult people! Take a look at some articles I’ve written on dealing with difficult people at www.ColleenSpeaks.com/freearticles.htm

There are articles on dealing with difficult people such as whiners, blamers, know-it-alls, exploders, and gossips. And there are articles on how to increase your energy, managing people, overcoming adversity, and more.

Just know that in dealing with difficult people, often, it isn’t about you. It’s what’s going on with them. Incidentally, this blog also features a special category on dealing with difficult people, as well as a section on life balance to help you put everything into perspective.

6. Be realistic. Make sure you don’t have higher expectations of yourself than you have for everyone else. This is especially common for women. We’ve been brought up to be the good girls, the people-pleasers, and to tend to everyone’s needs but our own. There’s a fine line between getting a million things done, and knowing when it’s time to say “no.”

Lastly, don’t let the past dictate your future. Think about what you’re thinking about! Don’t dwell too long on past mistakes. Let go the mistake but don’t lose the lesson.

Colleen Kettenhofen is available for seminars, keynotes and breakout sessions by calling (623)340-7690 locally in Phoenix, or toll free (800)323-0683.

Sign up for Colleen’s free e-newsletter on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/newsletter.htm

Watch speaker Colleen Kettenhofen’s video clips: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/kettenhofen_video.htm

For Colleen Kettenhofen’s articles on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/freearticles.htm

Managing Your Employees: What Your Employees Aren’t Telling You

“In managing your employees, you really are managing their emotions.”

Colleen Kettenhofen

In conducting management and leadership programs for almost 13 years now, there are certain traits participants have consistently told me they want to see in their managers, supervisors, and team leaders. And in this difficult economy,  it’s especially important to practice these characteristics to keep morale high when managing your employees. Here they are:

1. Honesty. Do you possess personal integrity? Do you do what you say you are going to do? You can be intelligent and educated, but if your employees don’t trust you, they won’t want to follow you. Remember, if anything, under-promise and over-deliver. The one thing you promise and can’t deliver on will be one thing they’ll remember. As the saying goes, they remember your last act.


2. Good communicator. It’s imperative that in managing your employees, you have a clear understanding of what their jobs entail. Also, have you clearly communicated the roles and responsibilities of each team member and where they fit in with the organizations goals? Do they know their role relative to the rest of the team? If there are changes, do you clearly communicate those changes in priorities? I ask this because I often hear my participants say about the organization they work for that, “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Our priorities are constantly shifting but we’re not notified until it’s too late.”


3. Compatible personality with the team. Employees want a manager who is consistent and not blowing hot and cold. They don’t want a manager who is moody and unpredictable. In managing your employees, put yourself in their shoes. You, too, probably want a manager who is stable and consistent. Especially in an economy that is anything but stable and consistent.


4. Fair-minded and objective. In managing your employees, make sure you’re objective. Don’t play favorites. Don’t socialize only with a good friend you’re managing. Employees pick up on that. And I hear about it a lot from managers themselves about their own managers.



In managing your employees be inspiring and future-oriented. This is one of the top five traits people tell me they want to see in their managers. They’ll often say, “I want someone inspiring who has vision.” Communicate clearly so your team can work toward shared goals. Have an action plan in writing.

5. Be intelligent and aware of what’s really going on in and around your workplace. Be educated and up-to-date on what your employees actually do on a day-to-day basis.

And most importantly, be prepared to answer any questions if they’re concerned about the future of their jobs. Employees want to be informed and kept in the loop. In these uncertain times, some employees require more communication and self-assurance. In managing your employees, you really are managing their emotions.

Colleen Kettenhofen is a dynamic speaker and author. She is available for seminars, keynotes and breakout sessions by calling (623)340-7690.

Sign up for Colleen’s free e-newsletter on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/newsletter.htm

Watch speaker Colleen Kettenhofen’s video clips at http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/kettenhofen_video.htm

For Colleen Kettenhofen’s articles on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills, team building, meetings and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/freearticles.htm

Managing People: How to Measure the Strength of Your Workplace

As a leader, manager or supervisor, how do you attract and keep the most talented employees? In this struggling economy, hiring and retaining the best most productive employees is more important than ever.

In Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman’s book, “First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently,” they’ve discovered there are 12 questions that measure the strength of a workplace. This is research by the Gallup organization based on in-depth interviews of over 80,000 managers/supervisors in over 400 organizations. The largest study of its kind undertaken. These 12 questions won’t tell you everything about the strength of your workplace, but they’ll provide insight into some of the most important information. They measure the main elements necessary to attract and retain the most talented, productive employees. Here they are:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?

2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?

3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?

4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?

5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?

6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?

8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?

9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?

10. Do I have a best friend at work?

11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?

12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

In conducting Leadership and Managing People seminars worldwide, I often quote this study and the above questions to my audiences. I ask them if their employees could answer positively, or “Strongly Agree” to all twelve questions. It’s important to know that on a scale of 1 to 5, “Strongly Agree” is 5. And if your employees can answer “Strongly Agree,” which is more extreme, it distinguishes the most productive companies and their departments from all the rest.

Colleen Kettenhofen is available for keynotes, seminars and breakout sessions by calling (623)340-7690.

Sign up for Colleen’s free e-newsletter on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/newsletter.htm

Watch speaker Colleen Kettenhofen’s video clips at http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/kettenhofen_video.htm

For Colleen Kettenhofen’s articles on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/freearticles.htm

3 Secrets for Dealing with Difficult People!

“The person who constantly angers you or frustrates you…controls you.”

Colleen Kettenhofen

Do you know any difficult people? Have you ever worked or lived with a difficult person? Are you a difficult person?! It’s amazing how many participants come up to me at the end of one of my programs and confide, ‘Colleen, I think sometimes I’m a difficult person and just realized it today!’ We can all be difficult at times. But what do you do with the person who is chronically difficult?

A key to getting through the upcoming holidays is learning to live with difficult people. Because there will always be difficult people. Here are three points to remember:

1)    All behavior has a positive intention.
2)    Low self-esteem is often the culprit.
3)    You won’t always please everyone.

All behavior has a positive intention. Take for example the gossip. When someone is always gossiping about everyone else, who are they trying to make look better? Themselves. That’s their positive intention. They frequently have low self-esteem. They don’t realize that when they’re gossiping about others, that people are thinking, “I wonder what they say about me when I’m not around?!”

Lastly, you can’t please everyone. Sometimes for whatever reason, someone won’t like you. Be careful with your words. I often have my participants take the following pledge. It adds humor but gets the point across: “On my honor, I promise, when dealing with a difficult person, that I will bite my tongue and count to ten, because if I don’t, I may say something that I will live to regret!”

Colleen Kettenhofen is a dynamic speaker and author who has appeared on television talk shows as well as conducted over 1,000 programs worldwide for top corporations and associations since 1995.

Colleen Kettenhofen is available for seminars, keynotes and breakout sessions by calling (623)340-7690.

Sign up for Colleen’s free e-newsletter on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/newsletter.htm

Watch speaker Colleen Kettenhofen’s video clips at http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/kettenhofen_video.htm

For Colleen Kettenhofen’s articles on leadership, life balance, dealing with difficult people, managing people, presentation skills and more: http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com/freearticles.htm