• Provide deadlines. Whenever you need information from your boss within a specific amount of time – say so.  If practical, send her an Outlook Task reminder, including the due date, to keep your needs fresh in her mind.
• Follow up.  A few days before you need the information, follow up with your boss to make sure the decision is still on her radar screen.   Remind her again that you need the information by a specific date in order to do your job.
• Provide a suggested course of action in writing. There will be times when you have to take matters into your own hands.   If you have a boss that continues to procrastinate beyond stated deadlines, provide your own solution.  Send an e-mail that says, “I need to you make a decision by Friday at noon.   If I do not hear from you by then, I will proceed as follows …”

When you have an indecisive boss, it is imperative that you be proactive.  Merely sitting back and hoping that your boss will change only ensures that she won’t.   Instead by taking a few simple actions, you can either lead her to decision, or at least ensure that her indecision does not further impair your ability to be a great performer.

• Strong Performance – Managers need to meet and exceed performance standards on a daily basis.  They must have a very narrow “say-do gap” and always live up to the commitments they make.

• Decisiveness – Managers must have the courage to make the tough calls.  While they realize that every decision might not be perfect, effective managers make well-reasoned and timely decisions.  They choose to live proactively – not reactively.

• Accountability – Managers are always accountable for their actions and the decisions they make.  When a problem arises they look first to their own contributing actions (or lack there of).  Accountability breeds trust.   An effective manager is one who others see as a go-to person who will listen to their problems and help them to find solutions.

• Strong Communication – Managers must be strong communicators.  They must clearly convey their expectations and consistently hold others accountable when those expectations are not met.  Effective managers do not shy away from confrontation because they understand that conflict is sometimes necessary to bring about resolution.

• Service-Based Leadership – Managers truly care about those they lead.  They seek to remove obstacles that prevent others from reaching their fullest potential.  They are empathetic to others’ needs; however, they avoid coddling or enabling others because they are focused on individual growth and exceptional performance.

Effective managers are excellent leaders.  Incorporate these 5 top leadership qualities into your daily life and watch your team thrive!

It likely had to do with a break down of leadership on the Secret Service’s part.  And, I’m not talking about the Director of the Agency, I am talking about the frontline supervisors that work directly in the White House.   What type of climate did they create for the their employees–the Secret Service agents serving in the White House and on the President’s detail- who as humans, are susceptible to making mistakes?  Did they allow for failure by coaching and mentoring agents who made mistakes back to a level of acceptable performance?  Or was it a zero-tolerance, “no mistakes will be made” environment where frontline employees were hammered for even the slightest error?  My guess is it was the latter- an environment hostile to mistakes- perhaps in some part due to the significance of the mission of securing the leader of the free world, our President.   Yet leaders don’t allow the significance of a mission to lead them to believe their colleagues can be perfect.  All humans make mistakes–true leaders know this and lead accordingly.

The break down in security at the State Dinner was the result of a poor judgment call made in a moment.  A Secret Service agent scanning a guest list did not find the names of the two people standing in front of him on the list.  For a split second he likely weighed his options, and chose to wave the couple past the checkpoint in order not to embarrass them by letting them know they were not on the list.  Everything appeared in order, the couple handed him proper identification, they were dressed in formal attire, they looked legit– therefore the mistake must be on the list of names– the agent’s instinct did not suspect party crashers at the White House. 

The decision made by the Agent or Agents involves demonstrates that there must be a fear of responsibility within the Secret Service culture at the White House.  What I am talking about has nothing to do with fearing the responsibility of sacrificing one’s life for the President. I deeply respect the men and women who protect the President and their willingness to do so at all costs.  What I am talking about is a simple fear that I see present in many teams in corporate America and beyond– the fear of responsibility of making a wrong choice or the fear of repercussions for making a mistake.

For some reason the Agent who realized the names of the two people seeking to crash the State Dinner were not on the guest list, chose to let them pass the checkpoint versus raising the issue to managment (and possibly embarrassing two Dinner guests and himself if he was wrong.)  While the facts are still coming to light, it’s clear there was a breakdown in security that night at the White House.  The media is already placing blame on the Director of the Secret Service.  While ultimately senior management members should be held accountable for the mistakes of their team, if the problem is to be solved, the leadership skills of the frontline management team- the supervisors on the White House detail-should be improved.

The best leaders inspire high performance by creating a culture where mistakes can be made in a way that empowers development and excellence.  Every human being will make mistakes.  How managers handle those blunders sets the tone for how willing team members will be to raise the issue when a future mistake is made.  When someone fears retribution for pointing out an error, they will start to make poor judgment calls to cover up mistakes.  That’s what happened at the White House.  Someone suspected a mistake, but they didn’t feel comfortable highlighting the concern.  Instead, in an instant they made a poor choice. 

That poor decision likely had something to do with a “zero tolerance” attitude towards mistakes.  Great leaders treat mistakes with grace not hostility.  They certainly hold people accountable for their shortcomings and work to develop them to avoid the same mistake in the future, but they recognize that humans will err.  True leadership creates a climate that allows for the little mistakes in an effort to prevent the absolute failures.  

When someone can crash a party at the White House, that’s a leadership failure.  When a simple choice to err on the side of caution and detain a guest for further screening cannot be made by the frontline Agent, I’d question the breakdown of practical leadership skills at the lowest levels of the management chain.   

Use this example as a chance to check the climate you’ve created in your office or home.  Can people make decisions without the fear of retribution or ridicule if they make a mistake?  Or, are they hammered for minor missteps only to render them paralyzed when it comes to making the important calls?   Leaders empower others to be decisive, supporting the good choices and coaching beyond the poor choices their colleagues make.  They do this so when a minor judgement call must be made to prevent a big failure, the frontline worker knows they are empowered to make the best choice without fearing ramifications if they are wrong.

As a leader, you have the responsibility to grow future leaders.  That means providing others opportunities to learn from their own experiences.  You can effectively empower your colleagues by providing advice on “what” to do, but leaving the “how” up to them.  When you allow others to take initiative and make their own decisions you help them grow professionally.

So, the next time a colleague asks for your advice on an assignment, provide them with a clear picture of the desired result and then give them space to achieve it in their own way.  You will not only be pleasantly surprised by the results but you will also have strengthened your colleague’s decision-making skills, confidence and initiative in the process.

When you feel as if you have too much to do, you often end up doing the following:

• Wasting energy fretting about how you will accomplish it all
• Wasting time on needless tasks such as constantly prioritizing and re-prioritizing your to do list
• Completing easy but non-crucial administrative duties.

In essence, you spend hours accomplishing very little of what actually needs to be done.

When you start to feel overwhelmed by all that you must do, take a step back.  Prioritize your list one time in order of importance (not what is the easiest or what you can do the fastest) and then get to work immediately on the first item on your list.

Exceptional performance is about action, followed by results.  You will never bring about great results if you avoid the necessary tasks at hand.  Kick your panic, paralysis and procrastination to the curb and just do it.

How much time do you spend waiting?  Waiting for the right job to come along, to be awarded the next promotion, for the perfect time to go back to school or to start your dream business?

If you are currently biding your time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to fall into your lap, get comfortable – you will likely be stagnant for a while.  No one (except arguably your mother) cares as much about your dreams, your goals, and your ambitions as you do!

When opportunity isn’t presenting itself, leaders take steps to create their own.  If you are currently waiting for the job, the promotion or the right time to make a life change, stop waiting and take action.

• Strengthen your skill sets to ensure that you are the ideal candidate when the right job comes along
• Start the conversation with your boss or supervisor about the next promotion
• Start researching curriculum and financing options for your MBA
• Draft a preliminary business plan

You may not be able to build the entire door in a day.  But you can certainly start making progress, one step at a time.  What are you waiting for?

Are you currently daydreaming about future opportunities?  Share them with us.  We would love to help you identify those next steps to get you moving in the right direction!

I had this experience today.  Since the plague seems to have descended on my entire household, I ran to my local grocery store to pick up a few heath-related products for the various members of my family.  As I stood in the aisle staring at the seemingly hundreds of options before me and reading their labels, I felt lost.  Should I buy separate symptom relievers or one medicine with a combination?  Is the generic brand as good as the name brand?  Should I ask the pharmacist for a recommendation?  The amount of information and the number of choices made the ultimate decision increasingly difficult.

Now, admittedly the decision of which cold medication to buy is not all that important in the grand scheme of things.  And although it took me longer than it should have to choose which product to buy, I did end up leaving the store medicine in hand.  But can you imagine how confused I would have been if I had whipped out my blackberry browser to do some quick internet research in the middle of the grocery store aisle to find the “perfect” product?  Or how many opinions I would have received if I posed the question to 120 of my closest Facebook friends?

What my “quick trip to the grocery store” reminded me was that in life and at work there is such a thing as having too much information! As leaders, timely decision-making is an essential skill.  No one would dispute that it is important to be informed.  Yet, leaders understand that they will never have 100% of the information 100% of the time.  Sometimes you just have to make the call.

Have you had a hard time making a decision due to information overload?  Please share it with us.

Here’s some simple advice: just do it.  Make it your top priority in the morning.  Get it over with.  Get it off your mind.  You’ve likely spent more time agonizing over it than it would take to accomplish the task. 

Tackling your nagging “to-do’s” first thing in the morning is a great way to progress and free your mind for the bigger projects in your professional environment.

Do you have any added advice to improve efficiency?  Let us know! 

It was a risk.  Both of us had lived the majority of our lives in the comfortable (but crowded) suburbs of major cities.  In our old neighborhood we had plenty of family within 10 minutes away who were willing to assist us with anything we or our daughters needed.  Now, my family is about an hour and a half away.  Plus, our best friends lived all around us.

Still, we wanted to make a change.  We wanted to define our reality and make a choice about where we lived, not just continue to stay where circumstances had led us.   We jokingly called it our “Grand Experiment” and warned family and friends we’d be back in Fairfax, Virginia in about a year.

Now, I know that won’t be the case.  We love our new town and the new niche we have created for ourselves.  Through Lead Star my travel schedule is intense and I spend plenty of time in major cities.  Now, when I come home it’s to the quiet of the country.  My daughters are enrolled in a great preschool and we are meeting many great people.  We feel really good about our choice and excited about what the future holds.

Looking back on my life and career, my best memories come from the times where I took a risk and reaped the reward that comes with making the choice to step out of my comfort zone and do something that really feels right, even though it doesn’t seem safe.  Taking, healthy, smart, risks means growing and developing.   

Leaders seek opportunity in each day they are presented with.  They make the decisions that matter.  Sure, they listen to the perspective of others and they research each and every major decision.  But, when it comes time to make a choice to influence an outcome, they don’t shy away from risk.  Embracing risk is a rewarding way to live your life.

A bonus of our new “country living” is that our friends and family enjoy coming out our way for a retreat.  I actually think we are spending more quality time now with the people we used to live so close to.  Now when they come out here they relax and stay awhile.  That’s a true reward!

It was great being with my family this holiday, especially seeing all the toddlers and preschoolers splashing around in the water.  Though the water was chilly, the kids didn’t mind.  I, however, did.  I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to cold water and on that day I had no intention of getting wet.   That was, of course, until my younger cousins wanted to go water skiing and needed someone to help them out.

Ugh.  I knew this was a moment when I was being called upon to lead – this was my opportunity to influence outcomes and inspire others.  I’d have to get wet and walk in the freezing water past my ankles and I didn’t want to do it.  I asked a few of my cousins if they wanted Jenni (my sister) to help them.  (Leaders do delegate, after all.)  Nope.  They wanted they wanted their “Aunt Angie” to do it.

In a moment I analyzed my choices:

I could say “no” and hope that someone else would help them.
I could say “yes” and help them water ski for the first time.

What I wanted to do and what I actually did were two very different things.

As I pushed past the pain and walked into the water, and then succeeded at getting my cousins up on water skies, I suddenly thought less about me and started rejoicing in their success.  After all the kids had their chance to ski, I swam back to shore to share in my cousins’ enthusiasm.

This all reminded me that being a leader is often about choice, selflessness and can require some discomfort.  But the joys of leadership are great when compared against the alternative.  The alternative keeps you inside your comfort zone and limits your life experiences.  Being a leader allows you to get beyond yourself and create positive experiences that will make a lasting impression on your life.

So the moral of this story is simple: the next time an opportunity comes across your plate and you immediately think “no way,” give the idea a second thought.  You never know what you’re turning down until you challenge yourself to explore what’s in front of you.