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What Site Managers Want From Safety Leaders, Published in Professional Safety, May 2013

At the request of the editors of Professional Safety magazine, I interviewed several site managers to gain their wisdom

Regardless of your industry, or job title, you can apply these 5 Tips to your business.

May2013p1 WhatSite ManagersWant   (page 1 of 2)

May2013p2 SiteManagersWant  (page 2 of 2)

I love this acronym, developed by a former coaching client:

T= take the time

R= regularly meet

U=  understand the situation and facts

S=   share solutions and agree on the next actions

T=  thank the other person

A coaching question is:  How are you demonstrating your competence and skills with your manager or clients?

Please reply at 704.895.6479 and let me know…

Book Review on “The Dan Sullivan Question” (2009)

I’ll give the book 5 stars for the model, and 3 stars on the writing quality.  This review will focus on the model behind “The Question.”

The subtitle explains its lofty vision:  “Ask it and transform anyone’s future”

This book was referred to me by several clients.  They had taken part in the Strategic Coach Program.  They wanted to work with me because they needed more customized executive coaching.

Also, I have been solicited by Strategic Coach sale people to attend their program.  (I must have attended a webinar.)

Dan Sullivan has coached over 13,000 business leaders and entrepreneurs, over 20 years.

So, what is the one question that 1) warrants a book, 2) warrants so much acclaim?

He starts the book with an anecdote from a business leader who feels: 1) confused, 2) isolated, and 3) powerless.  Despite his financial success, he is working long hours.  He needs a better system.  Like many people, that business owner is seeking how to 1) transform confusion into clarity, 2) isolation into confidence, and 3) powerlessness into capability.

Sound too magical or impossible?  Give this review another minute.

Imagine that you respond to that business leader with a question of your own.  Your question has two parts.  Part one is this:

“If we were having this discussion three years from today, and you were looking back over those three years, what has to have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with your progress?”

Sullivan found that 85-90% of these business owners pause, then provide a substantial answer.  These are the “users.”  These people become your prospects and clients.  And you can ask them part two of the question.

5-10% of the business owners are confused.  They cannot abstract or imagine the future in this way.  These are not your prospects or clients.  Thank them and move on.

And less than 5% of the business owners are “refusers.”  They are not willing to embrace a relationship.  They refuse to answer the question.  Therefore they have just saved you tremendous time and energy.  Thank them and move on, quickly.

Notice how you are pre-qualifying your prospects?  Notice how the question is all about building rapport?  Notice how the question is all about the other person– their aspirations and vision?

Humans are aspirational.

Some characteristics of this question include:

1. it is futuristic, and implies a continued relationship with you

2.  it is specific to a time period– “in three years”– which most people can envision and describe

3.  “looking back” requires synthesizing skills, abstraction, and specific descriptions

4.  “for you to feel happy” is subjective, and happiness is the primary motivator for mankind.  Through all recorded history.

Now that you have asked that business leader part one of the question, you are ready for part two.  Sullivan calls part two the D.O.S., an acronym standing for Dangers, Opportunities and Strengths.  You can use simialr words.  The point is to use specific words that help others clarify their intentions into actions.

Part two of the question is:

“Specifically, what dangers do you have now that need to be eliminated, what opportunities need to be captured, and what strengths need to be captured?”

This structure invites the other person to articulate specific Dangers/ Opportunities/ Strengths.  When I have used this question I ask for permission to record notes.  Then I help the other person articulate their top three items.  Then I provide those notes as a gift.  Or a coaching focus.  The results have been astounding.

Now imagine putting part one and part two together…

“If we were having this discussion three years from today, and you were looking back over those three years, what has to have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with your progress?”

“Specifically, what dangers do you have now that need to be eliminated, what opportunities need to be captured, and what strengths need to be captured?”

Can you imagine adopting this as a script?

Print this blog article.  Forward it to your team.  Then adopt this script.

It has helped me.  It has helped thousands of entrepreneurs focus on adding value and transforming others.

Yes of course, I can help you implement this model into your business. 

Then call me at 704.895.6479.  Tell me what you think.

Or add a comment below…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Partnering with Executive Development Consulting to provide Predictive Talent Assessments

Throughout my career I have always done one thing:  leadership development.

And my career has catapulted at many times… Specifically, whenever  I partner with smart people doing great work.

In 2012 I partnered with Adam Ortiz, PsyD, Chris Leupold, PhD, and the team to provide predictive talent assessments for a large global F100 company.

These multi-rater, multi-method assessments are described below.  The process is the most effective, valid talent assessment I have experienced to date.  Please call me at 704.895.6479 to learn how we can provide this assessment for your senior leaders.

Executive Development Consulting

Who We Are

As a premier provider of executive assessment and coaching services, we excel at understanding our clients’ situations and helping them drive business results. EDC employs experts who are Ph.D.-level Organizational Psychologists, and possess more than 15 years of consulting and corporate experience working with C-suite and senior-level executives. Our depth of experience in working with companies of all sizes, and across the globe, is a key differentiator, and rather than relying on abstract concepts, EDC integrates proven methods for assessment and development. We design these methods to work within the parameters of your environment and can be tailored quickly and cost effectively. Our solutions equip individuals and organizations with the tools they need to achieve their goals.

Our Approach

Understanding what is required to excel is critical to individual and organizational advancement. We systematically define success in each client’s organization by asking questions that hone in on core competencies and underlying behaviors. We then use in-depth, behavioral interviews, 360-degree assessment, and psychological inventories to objectively assess those competencies and behaviors. Our goal is to provide a clear, accurate and relevant picture of your talent and where to most meaningfully invest your resources.

How We Add Value

We help our clients identify and develop their number one resource, their people. We do this by partnering to define the competencies critical to success, measuring them and developing the organization’s leaders with those competencies as the focal point. We equip individuals and organizations with the tools they need to turn executive assessment and development into sustainable advantage. Our practices are proven to achieve and sustain higher levels of leadership effectiveness, and are based on best practice research of leadership development strategies.

Our Philosophy

Our philosophy on development and coaching is that people grow by applying learnings to real world situations. EDC directly links executive development to individual and organizational needs by addressing values, motivations and behaviors in ways that support the achievement of development targets. Our approach links self-awareness with business results.

Vote for success secrets here…

Imagine a mega-lottery where they winner gains a lifetime of wealth…

All you have to do is rank the following in the correct order.

Question:  what are the most important secrets to success in life and work?

____  talent    ____ luck   ____ambition

Yes, there is a correct answer.

Yes, I know the answer.

DO YOU?  

Call me at 704.895.6479 or comment below…