Patti Cotton

Executive Coach & Career Strategist

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Three Lifestyle Habits to Keep Your Leadership Sharp

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Three Lifestyle Habits to Keep Your Leadership Sharp
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As a leader, how do you stay sharp and energized?

In studying great leaders, three habits seem to support this, with some of these leaders having taken it to a science.

What are these three habits, and how can you capitalize on the experience of the greats?

  1. Reading to Nourish Your Leadership Lens

Great leaders read daily. Bill Gates reads about 50 books yearly. He told Time magazine that reading is essential for success. Elon Musk shares that reading is what taught him how to build rockets. Warren Buffett, who reads about 500 pages daily, says, “That’s how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest.”

I agree. Whatever you feed your brain is what it uses to operate. This is true for the food you eat and the information you absorb. If you are not taking the time to ingest new information to keep learning and to help you make best decisions, you are not growing. Stagnant leadership is dying leadership.

Here are tips to begin your reading habit.

    • Research what some of the great leaders are reading. Then do likewise. You can expand from there.
    • Set a timer. This is a habit to feed your brain, just like exercise is a habit to keep your body in shape. Begin with 30 minutes and set a timer so that you can focus on what you are reading.
    • Read three chapters before you decide whether you will finish the book. Sometimes you will begin a book that is just not inspiring. When this happens, give it three chapters just to make sure, and then set it aside for another if the selection is stale.

  1. Rituals to Stay Grounded in Turbulent Times

Rituals are as old as mankind. There are many kinds of rituals, such as those that increase confidence or ease grieving. There are those that signify an end or beginning to a life chapter. You and I may have personal rituals including actions such as wearing lucky socks before a big event. Rituals are cultural markers that involve activity tied to some sort of meaning. The wonderful thing about these is that they can also provide grounding and a sense of control.

Arianna Huffington is one leader who firmly believes in ritual. In fact, under her direction, the Huffington Post offers regular yoga and meditation classes, as well as nap rooms, to its employees. Building in one of these activities on a regular basis serves to bring balance and well-being to those who participate. Richard Branson claims he does his best thinking when he adds the ritual of movement, such as taking a walk.

Here are some ideas for you as you think about establishing your own rituals.

    • Decide how you would like to celebrate. Is it important to you to celebrate accomplishments? Important dates? Identify what is meaningful to you and then develop a ritual to mark the event.
    • Identify how you will center yourself. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a wonderful way to calm anxiety or quiet the world. Developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1970s at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, MBSR was originally intended for people suffering from anxiety, depression, and pain. It has proven incredibly successful, and today, is also taught in almost every community as a way to alleviate stress and develop mindfulness.
    • Practice sharing a meaningful ritual with others so that it becomes part of your company or family culture. Sharing brings a sense of belonging and connection which is powerful and sorely needed in today’s world.

  1. Replenishing the Leadership Engine

Rest is key for rejuvenation and to re-energize. Just as your car needs energy to operate, so do you. Are you truly getting the quality and amount of sleep you need? Sleep deprivation interferes directly with focus and executive reasoning. This means your performance – and that of your business, in turn – is at stake.

McKinsey conducted a study of 196 business leaders and discovered that two-thirds were dissatisfied with the quantity of sleep they got, and 55% were not happy with the quality of their sleep. Yet, the compelling evidence shows that a lack of sleep on the part of a leader directly impacts organizational performance. What can you do about this?

Here are some tips to get you started on the road to better sleep habits.

    • Target the optimal seven to nine hours of sleep per night. If you have claimed in the past that you “only need six hours” or whatever your number is, you need to let that idea go. Experts show that anything less than seven hours is simply not enough, and you are systematically weakening your brain and body’s abilities to function over time.
    • Keep your bedroom cool and the lights off. Any compromise to darkness will compromise a sound sleep. This includes removing your cell phone from the bedroom. The stress and stimulation it represents, in addition to the blue light it gives off when alerts come through, is enough to interfere with your ability to relax and stay asleep.
    • We have all heard that best sleep hours occur before midnight, so one should go to bed early. Yet many of us may be nocturnal or find this impractical. Decide the block of time that is right for you, and then allot enough time to meet your sleep quota.

Staying sharp means discipline. And discipline is what we see the best leaders reflect as they make change around the world. Taking the time to develop this will mean the difference between good and great. As you review the three lifestyle habits of best leaders above, where will you start?

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Three Commitments to Effective Leadership

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Are you committed to being a leader?

You have the title. You have the area of responsibility. You’re in a seat that allows you to make key decisions for the larger picture.

Moreover, others have deemed that you have both the competencies and character to lead well.

But what about your commitment?

Without commitment in three key areas, abilities are not enough.

In my engagement with leaders, I will work with them to assess their leadership competencies, their character, and their commitment. Most often, they can readily articulate their strengths – and many are keenly self-aware of their vulnerabilities. When we discuss character, this is often a more reflective time in our conversation, for this is not a question that surfaces as much.

Then, I approach their commitment. Most everyone quickly affirms they are committed, and some may even feel softly affronted that I’ve even asked the question. “If I weren’t committed, I wouldn’t be here,” quipped one. “They don’t pay me enough, but I still sit in this chair!”

It’s at this point that I invite them to reflect on three areas of commitment and to explore where they might need next to grow.

1. Aspiration.

Aspire to a vision. How old is your vision? Is it still relevant? And does it still inspire you to action? If not, it’s certain that your people are not inspired, either. Take the time to revisit this in light of where you and your company are today. Then, review your direction and strategies to ensure they support it best.

2.  Engagement.

Get involved and find solutions. Dive into the many issues that face you as leader, your business, and your industry. Use the appropriate brain trust to turn old ideas upside down and to come up with creative solutions to problems. See the gold in continued growth for yourself. Admit and examine those areas within the company that require refinement or redirecting. Recognize the merits of collaboration as you examine industry challenges and decide to become part of the thought leadership that provides the answers.

3.  Sacrifice.

Be willing to make sacrifices in pursuit of the vision. If you have been in leadership many years, or your business has been long established, there may be pockets of complacency that impede your ability to move ahead. These may not be readily apparent, so as you share the vision anew, make sure that this is shared at all levels of your organization. Ask each area of responsibility, then, to perform a litmus test by examining systems, processes, and protocols to see if these best support the vision and its direction. Then, define the behaviors and attitudes you want to see that reflect company values. What needs to shift or change? What needs to go, or be adopted? Remaining “in place” with what has always worked is a sure sign that you are not staying current – and by default, you could be on the way out.

In essence, commitment in these three areas requires that you roll up your sleeves and do the hard work required to lead well. I challenge you to use this framework as you consider the effectiveness of your own leadership, and that of your executive team.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

5 Ways to Cut Your Meeting Time in Half

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5 Ways to Cut Your Meeting Time in Half
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Ask anyone in management about how much they love meetings, and I can guarantee you will hear a loud groan. Chief complaints are that there are too many, they waste time, and little gets accomplished during these. A top upset is when meetings rehash the same agenda items without any move forward.

How can you minimize the time spent on your meetings, maximize the focus and outcomes, and get back to work quickly?

Here are 5 ways you can make sure your meetings are effective, stay on track, and keep the organization moving forward:

1. Prepare your attendees for the meeting.

Make sure your meeting has a clear purpose, an agenda, and any background information to brief people. Send this out ahead of time and alert attendees that they need to review the info before the meeting is held. This one move can eliminate a lot of time in your meeting wasted on bringing people up to speed and risking conversations around things that have already been decided.

2. Clarify what you want from your attendees.

Is this meeting informational, for consideration, or for action?

a. If the meeting is for information only, make it clear that you are sharing for awareness, and decide during your meeting what information from your time together needs to be shared with the larger employee base or select management.

b. If the meeting is for consideration, make sure you define what is up for consideration and what outcomes you would like for the meeting. This kind of meeting is most likely to be typed as a time-waster unless you facilitate for the outcomes you request, identify next steps with deadlines, and share this with all involved to pull things forward. It is important especially for this type of meeting that you as leader facilitate and allow other team members to speak and weigh in. Your job is to conduct the meeting and keep it on track to desired outcomes – not to dictate opinion by reason of your position.

c. If the meeting is for action, be sure that you have identified and have present all decision-makers who need to be in the room. This avoids having to chase down and reintegrate any new views or opinions coming from those who were absent (and which can often cause another new meeting on the same subject, rehashing the same agenda). As with the meeting for consideration, articulate clearly the decisions that were made, the actions you have determined, who will follow up on each, and a deadline for reporting back.

3. Go lean on your attendee list.

Do you have tourists in your meetings? People who have climbed “on the bus” by virtue of association, but who really don’t need to be in there? Review your agenda carefully and decide who from your regular attendee list no longer needs to be involved. This can be touchy as you may send the wrong message by simply disinviting them. Be sure to explain why – that the agenda isn’t something to which they need to devote time, and you are revamping in order to minimize meetings and time spent on these so that they can do the work at hand.

4. Avoid highjacking.

Three major ways this can happen to your meeting are when Parkinson’s Law of Triviality is activated, when side-barring occurs, and if you have a personality who tends grandstand or hold court.

a. Parkinson’s Law of Triviality is where people spend a relatively large amount of time, energy, and focus dealing with relatively minor issues. How does this work in a meeting? People will stay with trivia inside of a more major decision because they are more comfortable with that. They may not understand the larger issue at hand, or they may not be fully engaged with it. When this happens, and they begin to “major in minors,” the more important issue being neglected, and a whole team diverted to a side conversation. If you notice this happening, be quick to call people back to the larger focus at hand.

b. Stopping your own meeting to side-bar means that the rest of your team has to wait while you do take care of things that should be cared for in a 1:1 meeting or other forum. It sends a poor message about your own leadership abilities and causes people to lose their focus and engagement during your time together. That’s a hard thing to recapture – so don’t do it!

c. Do you have a grandstander? A personality who considers meetings the place where they can make sure everyone else is impressed with their opinion? This person tends to takes up all the air in the room so that others aren’t able or willing to participate, or interrupts loudly to show expertise. If so, you need to have a critical conversation with this person to help them to understand the behavior you are noticing, how it is adversely impacting the team, and the desired behaviors you want to see instead.

5. Recap of your meeting.

Send out a recap of your meeting notes with appropriate action steps, designated people in charge of them, and deadlines. These notes should be taken by someone other than you to allow you to focus on leading and facilitating. If you have an assistant, this is optimal. If you have a leaner team in attendance for this one, ask one of your members to capture what you want on the agenda so that you can have your assistant type these up later for distribution.

What are your pet-peeve time-wasters in meetings? I’d love to hear more about it.

For more about making your meetings more effective to promote better decisions and outcomes, see McKinsey’s May 2019 article “Want a Better Decision? Plan a Better Meeting” by Aaron De Smet, Gregor Jost, and Leigh Weiss.

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

Three Tips to Boost a Culture of Inclusivity

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Three Tips to Boost a Culture of Inclusivity
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An open and honest environment is important for a healthy company culture.

Fostering this is important to employee engagement and your ability to retain top talent.

But if your employees don’t feel free to express their opinions, you are keeping them from feeling more motivated to contributing their best work.

Why is this the case? And how can you turn this around?

Studies show that creating a sense of belonging in the workplace is one of the top criteria for an employee to feel engaged. A sense of belonging allows employees to feel like they are able to be authentic. And the ability to feel authentic at work affects an employee’s sense of contribution, which in turn, affects their engagement and performance.

Most CEOs pride themselves on creating such a sense of belonging. They cite great on-boarding processes, recognition programs, and intentional cultural markers and norms such as “Dress Down Friday” and the annual employee picnic.

But there is one area affecting employee retention that gets overlooked quite a bit. And this is making sure that you teach your people how to value differing perspectives or opinions.

As your employees come from all walks of life, backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences, they are bound to have various perspectives and opinions. And nothing will curb a feeling of inclusion faster than to discount someone’s opinion.

I’ve heard things in executive meeting brainstorming sessions such as, “Well, John, that can’t work because…” or, “That approach is impossible,” as first responses to someone offering ideas for solutions.

What happens?

Shutdown.

People hesitate to speak up. They are afraid of “getting it wrong,” or of being discounted.

And nothing is worse than sending that kind of message if you are trying to create a spirit of inclusion.

Everyone wants to feel included. Having that sense of acceptance and belonging is key to fueling the desire to contribute and be a part of something.

Here are three tips that will help you boost your culture’s spirit of inclusivity.

  1. Make sure you have a growth mindset.

Do you find your executive team is in a rut when it comes to new ideas? Make sure it hasn’t calcified to a fixed stance of “This is the way we have always done it.” You may not readily hear it, but you will see it in the way that your executives become complacent and comfortable with “what is.”

If this is the case, begin having brainstorm sessions around new ideas by asking the question, “What is possible, here? If we couldn’t do it the way we have always done it, how might we approach this?”

  1. The first responder to someone else’s opinion must be a cheerleader.

Develop the “carrot approach” to encourage people contributing their ideas and perspectives. Adopt the group norm that when a person comes up with an idea, the first one to respond must offer something positive.

He or she doesn’t have to agree with the opinion, but should at least laud the other person for thinking outside of the box. This kind of immediate response will develop a culture of acceptance and inclusion. No idea is a bad one – let’s consider it.

  1. Ask questions instead of making pronouncements.

When exploring the opinions and perspectives of others, take an open-minded approach by asking questions to dive deeper. “Tell me more,” or “Let’s talk about how that might work.” This keeps you on your toes to consider new possibilities, and at the same time, creates a spirit of togetherness as you work through toward a solution.

The next time you are tempted to share why a particular idea won’t work, pause and redirect. You’ll find that your team will become more engaged, animated, and willing to contribute at much higher levels.

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© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.

The Cost of Snap Judgments

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The Cost of Snap Judgments
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Are you compromising your leadership by making snap judgments?

Research shows that we use less information than we think when making decisions.

Yet, what can you do when the volume of problems to be solved continues to grow?

If you tend to make decisions quickly without the benefit of “the rest of the story,” your leadership and your company are in jeopardy.

How do you solve this?

Here’s an actual client scenario: (names are fictitious)

Nate, senior manager of operations of Allen, Inc., hurried into Jim’s office. “Our steel inventory won’t meet demands this next month. I’m particularly concerned about making good on our commitment to Shanden, Inc., our biggest account.”

“You are right – we can’t have this,” sputtered Jim, CEO. “I hate to do it, but go ahead and buy the more expensive grade of steel for their current project. I know it doesn’t require it, but we need to keep Shanden. I’ll find the money somewhere.”

Jim and Nate spent a lot of money to procure last-minute inventory – and inventory that was overkill for what Shanden’s project actually required.

Here’s what both men did not consider – and which could have saved them headaches and dollars:

  1. Jim lost trust, which was replaced by resentment.

    Jim lost trust with his employees

And he lost trust with his middle management.

In this scenario, Sam, the relationship manager for the top account was not consulted. If he had been, Nate and Jim would have learned that Shanden’s project had in fact come to a standstill for external reasons. The men could have waited and ordered less expensive inventory.

“I could have saved them a lot of trouble and money,” Sam said. “I may as well be invisible here.”

Jim lost trust with Allen employees who worked directly with Shanden to deliver product.

They became resentful, knowing this kind of steel was overkill and required quite a bit more money. Could this kind of decision-making jeopardize things like their raises that they had been promised later in the year? If the boss had such funding, why had he said the company couldn’t invest in better conditions for them? Did he really care about them?

  1. Jim lost an opportunity to mentor and empower his top talent.

Nate had a habit of knee-jerking and not getting all the facts before panicking – something that Jim had inadvertently fostered in him by doing the same.

And Sam was furious. “I feel like a useless paper-pusher, here,” he told me. “If I were included in decisions that affect my area, I could contribute quite a bit – and save Allen money and relationships!”

Nate should have included Sam in his fact-gathering – and Jim should have asked that Sam’s input be included before making a decision. Getting the perspective and input from all relevant parties would have resulted in a much healthier, less costly outcome and much better team relationships.

  1. Jim weakened Allen, Inc.’s future.

Jim incurred loss for the company. Allen lost money on the Shanden project as a result of throwing money at it. This meant that Allen didn’t have the reserves it needed to invest in some of the company’s top priorities later that year – including the employee raises and some expansion it was considering. These losses definitely affected employee morale and productivity, and Allen’s future opportunities.

What happened to Jim? Jim fell into the psychological trap of allowing his emotions to get in the way of careful judgment.

Ed O’Brien, associate professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has performed experiments with decision-making that point out the following:

“People view the mind as a rational arbiter, assuming that they and others will withhold judgment until they finish flipping through all the evidence. But the mind isn’t just a passive information processor; it’s also emotional. In reality, once people begin to experience…evidence in real time, they will inevitably react to it as they go along. We won’t need to see later information if we already love or hate the very first piece” (“We Use Less Information to Make Decisions Than We Think,” Harvard Business Review, 03-07-19).

Are you too quick to judge?

Losing trust, weakening your business, and limiting opportunities definitely make a case for slowing down, getting the full picture, and diagnosing the real problem.

HOW MUCH

DO OTHERS REALLY TRUST YOU?

​Learn the two vital parts to trust and how they can help you become a more highly effective leader.

GET THE INFOGRAPHIC

© Patti Cotton and patticotton.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that attribution is made to Patti Cotton and patticotton.com, with links thereto.